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WITH
AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR PRESENT STATE,
TAKEN DURING A PILGRIMAGE ALONG THAT TART OF THE ISLAND, IN THE
MONTH OF JUNE, 1849.
» --/{ rfY ^>/^' '/ W I T » ENGRAVINGS.
LONDON:
GEORGE BELL, 18L FLEET STREET.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE: GEORGE BOUCHIER RICHARDSON.
CARLISLE: CHARLES THURNAM; HUDSON SCOTT.
BRISTOL: THOMAS EDWARD HEATH.
1840.
LONDON :
GEORGE WOODFALL AND SON,
ANGKf, COURT, SKINNER STREET.
DR
lib
R5
i
TO THE RIGHT HONOUEABLE
GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK HOWARD,
EARL OF CARLISLE,
THIS
ACCOUNT OF THE PICTS WALL
AND THE ADJOINING
ROMAN STATIONS AND RAMPARTS,
IS WITH THE GREATEST RESPECT
INSCRIBED.
Some Readers will, 1 fear, soon throw this little work aside, when
they find in confusion certain points which recent writers have
rendered plain and distinct. I have not separated the works of
Agricola from those of Hadrian and Severus, for what is in a dark
mist my imagination has not enabled me to clear. Nor have I,
by indulgence in any theory, sought to give unity and agreement
to these famous barriers. I have, however, endeavoured to give
a true account of what we saw in an excursion of much interest;
the measurements and observations were written down at the time,
and little was left to unaided memory. But the fixed times for
moving forwards, although proper and unavoidable, were attended
with some disadvantages, and prevented the examination of many
interesthig points of inquiry.
London, August 21, 1849.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
History of the Roman Ramparts and Wall
Page
1
CHAPTER II.
Programme of arrangements for the " Pilgrimage "
Station
I. Segedimum. Wallsend
II. Pons MMi. Newcastle-upon-Tyne
13
15
16
CHAPTER III
III. Condercum. Benwell Hill
IV. Vindobala. Rutchester .
V. Hunnum. Halton Chesters
VI. Cilumum. Walwick Chesters
18
19
20
22
CHAPTER IV.
VII. Procolitia. Carrawbroiigh
VIII. Borcovicum. Housesteads
IX. Vindolana. Chesterholme
26
27
30
CHAPTER V.
Mile Castle at Cawfields
X. .ffisica. Great Chesters
XI. Magna. Caervorran
34
35
37
CHAPTER VI.
Gilsland 40
XII. Amboglanna. Burdoswald ........ 41
XIII, Petriana. Walton Chester 44
Lanercost. Naworth Castle. Search tor the " Written Rock on the
Gelt" 45-47
Vlll
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
Station
XIV. Aballabn. Stanwicks
Carlisle. Luguvallum
XV. Congavata. Biirgh .
XVI. Axelodunum. Daimbiirgh
XVII. Gabrosentis. Bowness
Return to Newcastle
A Day with the Pilgrims along the Roman Wall
Page
48
49
51
53
56
59
60
THE
^im ox 3aomano.33titMj asaalL
CHAPTER I.
The recent pilgrimage along the line of the Picts Wall having
arrested some attention, and the accounts of the interesting tour
which have appeared, having related more to the progress and
persona] consideration of the numerous party, I am not without
hopes that a further account of the present state of the Roman Wall
and fortified stations along the line, with an inquiry into their origin,
may be acceptable at a time when much diversity of opinion prevails,
and when modern travelling enables any one to view the striking
works, and form an independent judgment for himself. Compared
with the remains of these cities, the valla, wall, and fosses, nothing
besides in Britain deserves the name of Roman. Whoever would
consult the earliest writers that mention the Roman barrier erected
across the island, must be prepared to find great paucity of inform-
ation, much obscurity, and many instances of contradictory evi-
dence, at a period, too, when the wall, if erected, and the earth works
were complete. This confusion is, doubtless, principally owing
to the absence of distinction between vallum, a barrier or wall of
earth, and murus, a wall of stone, which practice, I may observe, is
followed at the present day by the inhabitants adjoining the wall :
in speaking of the vallum they say the earth-walls.
From the year a.d. 85, when Agricola was recalled from Britain
by Domitian, histoiy is silent respecting its affairs till a.d. ] 20,
when Hadrian came over in person, and commenced or completed
a line of earthworks across the island. From this period to the
sera of the Saxon Livasion, we have very few notices respecting the
long fortifications which the Romans ei'ected in the island. The
emperor Severus arrived in Britain about the year a.d. 206. Hero-
B
dian and Dion Cassius, who were contemporary with that emperor,
wrote copiously on his reign. The former mentions that Severus
in his march northwards, passed the rivers and earthworks (which
he calls a vast ditch), and which formed the boundary of the
empire. Only fragments of the works of Dion Cassius * remain : but
Xiphilinus, who abridged his works in the 10th century, informs us
" that the two most considerable bodies in the island are the Cale-
donians and the Meatse. The latter dwell near the great wallf
that separates the island into two parts : the Caledonians live be-
yond them. We are masters of little less than half the island."
Spartian, who wrote about 80 years after the death of Severus,
says, " that Severus fortified Britain with a murus drawn across the
island, and ending on each side at the sea, which was the chief glory
of his reign, and for which he received the title of Britannicus ; "
" which murus," Camden observes, " as one may gather from what
follows in Spartian, appears to have been made in fashion of a mural
hedge I, of large stakes fixed deep in the ground, and fastened together
with wattles. And this it is we are now speaking of, for it runs along
for 80 miles together; and upon it are the Pons Mlia, Classis
^lia, Cohors JElia, Ala Sahiniana, which took their names from
^lius liadrianus, and Sahina his wife." The words of Spartian,
alluded to by Camden, are, " when the murus at the vallum was
completed, the emperor returned not as conqueror but as the
founder of an eternal peace." Spartian calls it murus, and hints
that Severus built both a murus and vallum in these words, post
murum apud vallum in Britannia missum. "But one may gather
from Bede," says Camden, "that this vallum was nothing else but
a wall of turf; and it cannot with any truth be affirmed that
Severus's wall was of stone."
The Scottish historian, who wrote the Eota Temporum, tells us
" that Hadrian did first of all draw a wall of a prodigious bigness
made of turfs {of that height that it lookt like a mountain, and
with a deep ditch before it) from the mouth of the Tine to the river
Eske, i. G.,from the German to the Irish Ocean." Hector Boethius
also informs us " that Severus ordered the vallum of Hadrian to be
restored, bulwarks of stone, and towers to be added ; " and further
• Dion Cassius mentions that of thirty-two legions belonging to the empire, three
were in Britain.
f Xiphilinus appears to be speaking here from his own knowledge in the 10th
century.
\ Muralis sepis.
on, says there was a tradition in the annals of Scotland "that the
wall commenced by Hadrian was finished by Severus."
Aurelius Victor, who in the reign of Constantius brought down
the history of the Roman emperors to a.d. 360, after referring to
some great exploits, says that he (Severus) achieved greater things
than these ; for, after repulsing the enemy, he drew a wall across
Britain from sea to sea; which account, the younger Victor in his
epitome of that work, confirms.
Eutropius in the 4th century, states "and that Severus might
make the utmost provision for the security of the provinces he had
obtained, he drew a wall for 35 miles together from sea to sea."
Orosius, who flourished in the 5th century, informs us that the
emperor Severus was drawn into Britain by the defection of almost
all his allies; and, having fought many severe battles, he determined
to separate the part of the island which he had recovered, from the
tribes that remained unsubdued, and, therefore, drew a deep foss and
a very strong vallum, fortified at the top with numerous towers from
sea to sea, over a space of 132 miles.
The account given by Cassiodorus, who belonged to the 6th cen-
tury, agrees with Orosius in the length and object of the wall; and
further, attributes it to the consulate of Aper and Maximus, a.d. 207.
" Ethelwerd, the most ancient writer we have," says Camden,
" relates that Severus drew a ditch across the foresaid island, from
sea to sea, and within it built a wall (murum) with towers and forts,"
which he afterwards calls Fossa Severia.
In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle we find the following record, " a.d.
188. This year Severus succeeded to the empire, and went with an
army into Britain, and subdued a great part of the island by battle ;
and then, for the protection of the Britons, he built a rampart of
turf, and a broad wall thereon, from sea to sea. He reigned
seventeen years, and then ended his days at York."
We learn from Camden that the learned Spaniard, Hieronymus
Surita. relates that Hadrian's fence was carried on and completed
with vast works bj Septimus Severus, and had the name of Vallum
given to it ; and Guidus Pancirolus, according to the same authority,
afiirms that Severus only repaired Hadrian's wall, which was fallen.
Camden also informs us that " Malmesbury calls it the eminent and
famous ditch. In the place whereof a wall of stone was built about
200 years after."
The Venerable Bede finished his Ecclesiastical History, a.d. 731,
in the monastery of Jarrow, near the eastern termination of the
B 2
'i
great Wall. He writes with more certainty respecting Severus, but
omits all mention of Hadrian. We shall give his words at length.
" Having been victorious in all the grievous civil wars which happened
in his time, he was drawn into Britain by the revolt of nearly all
the confederate tribes ; and, after many great and dangerous battles,
he thought fit to divide that part of the island which he had recovered
from the unconquered nations, not with a wall as some imagine, but
with a rampart. For a murus or wall is made of stone, but a vallum
or rampart, with which camps are fortified, is made of pales (valli)
and turfs cut out of the earth, and raised above the ground all round
like a wall ; having in front of it the ditch whence the sods were
taken, and strong stakes of wood fixed upon the top. Thus, Severus
drew a great ditch and strong rampart fortified with several towers
from sea to sea, and was afterwards taken sick, and died at York."
Although a distinction is here made between murus and vallum, which
preceding writers have not observed, yet it is expressed by vallum
only, both in the Itinerary of Antonine* and the Notitia Imperii.
A few years after, it would appear that they began to neglect this
wall ; but, when the Emperor Alexander Severus (as we read in Lam-
pridius) had given such lands as were taken from the enemy to the
frontier garrison, and their officers (so that all was to be theii's, upon
condition that their heirs too were brought up in the service of the
empire, and no attempt was made to convert them to private uses,)
imagining that they would be more diligent and courageous when
they fought for their own f , then the Romans passed this rampart,
and, fixing in the barbarians' country, built and manned garrisons ;
and, by degrees, carried the bounds of the empire as far as Bodotria
(the Forth). Camden s Brit. p. 839.
When the affairs of the Roman Empire began sensibly to decline,
and their forces in Britain were mostly drawn off to the defence of
Gaul, they advised the Britons to build a wall across the two seas,
between the Forth and the Clyde, which might secure them against
the hicursions of the enemy, without the aid of the Roman forces ;
they then returned home in triumph. But this w'all being built of
turf, and " by an unskilful rabble — these are the words of Gildas —
without any director, it stood them in no stead.'' Bede says,
* The Itinerary of Antonine, so far as it relates to Britain, is entitled " Antonini
Iter Britanniaruni." It cannot date earlier than a.d. 328. The " Notitia Imperii''
contains a list of the military and civil officers of the empire ; its date is uncertain, but
it cannot have boeii written very distant from the time wlien the Romans left Britain.
-j- Caraden notices this in his views of the feudal tenure.
" The former enemies, when they perceived the Roman soldiery
were gone, immediately coming by sea, broke into the borders,
trampled and overran all places ; and, like men mowing ripe corn,
bore down all before them. Hereupon messengers wei'e again sent
to Rome, imploring aid lest their \vretched country should be utterly
extirpated ; and the name of a Roman province, so long renowned
among them, overthrown by the cruelties of barbarous foreigners,
might become utterly contemptible. A legion is accordingly sent
again ; and, arriving unexpectedly in autumn, made great slaughter
of the enemy, obliging all those that could escape to flee beyond the
sea; whereas, before, they were wont yearly to cai'ry off their booty
without any opposition."
The Romans now retreated to the rampart of Severus, and along
the Linea Valli, as the Notitia mentions, both sides of which were
garrisoned with five alae, or wings of horse, with their prefects ;
fifteen cohorts of foot, with their tribunes ; one band [numerus) ; and
one squadron [cuneus). Bede continues : " Then the Romans de-
clared to the Britons, that they could not for the future undertake
such troublesome expeditions for their sake ; advising them rather
to handle their weapons like men, and undertake themselves the
charge of engaging their enemies who would not prove too powerful
for them, unless they were deterred by cowardice ; and, thinking it
might be some help to the allies whom they were forced to abandon,
they built a strong wall from sea to sea, in a straight line between
the towns that had been built there for fear of the enemy, and not
far from the trench of Severus. This famous wall, which is still to
be seen, was built at the public and private expense, the Britons
also lending their assistance. It is eight feet broad, and twelve feet
high, in a straight line from east to west, as is still visible to
beholders." I will here also give Gildas's words, from whom, ac-
cording to Camden, Bede had his account. " The Romans, at the
public and private expense, joining to themselves the assistance
of the miserable inhabitants, built a wall, different from the former,
and of the same structure as walls generally, from sea to sea, accord-
ing to their usual manner of building, along by some cities that had
been contrived there, by chance, from fear of their enemies."*
The preceding, I believe, are all the accounts of the Roman
barriers, along the Linea Valli, which history has handed down to
• Gildas, St., sumamed also the Wise, was a British monk and preacher of the
fifth century. He is the author of the earliest British history, " Epistoia de Excidio
Britannia et Castigatio Ordinis Ecclesiastico," 8vo, Loudon, 1525. English transla-
tion, 12mo, 1652, 8vo, 1841. London.
6
us; and we now proceed to investigate some points upon which
modern writers are by no means agreed.
The following tabular view contains, 1, the official list of the
names of the stations ; 2, of the cohort or ala garrisoned in each ;
3, name of the cohort on inscriptions found in each station ; 4,
modern name, according to Mr. Hodgson*.
NOTITIA IMPERII.
" Item per lineam Valli."
Name of Cohort on
Inscriptions found in
each Station.
Modern Name, as
far as known.
Name of Station.
Name of Cohort or Ala.
Segedunum
Pons ^lii
Cohors IV. Lergorura.
Cohors Cornoviorura...
Ala I. Astorum
Cohors I. Frixagi
Ala Saviniana
Cohors IV. Lingonum.
Wallsend.
Newcastle - upon -
Tyne.
Benwell.
Rutchester.
Condercum
Vindobala
Ala I. Asturura
Ala Sflbiniaiia
Hunnum
Cilurnum
Ala II. Astorum
Cohors I. Batavorum..
„ Tungorum . .
Cohors IV. Gallorum.
Cohors I. Astorum....
Cohors II. Dalmatarum
Cohors I. JiliaDacorura
Ala Petriana
Ala II. Asturum iWalwickChesters.
Cohors I. Batavorum Carrnwbrninrb.
Procolitia
Borcovicum
Vindolana
„ Tungorum . .
Cohors IV. Gallorum .
Cohors II. Asturum...
Housesteads.
Little Chesters.
Great Chesters.
^sica
Magna
Amboglanna
Petriana
Aballaba
„ ^liaDacorum Burdoswald,
Numerus Marorum Au-
relianorum.
Cohors II. Lergorum. .
Cohors I. Hispanonim
Cohors II. Thracum...
Cohors I. JiliaClassica
„ Morinornm . .
Cohors III. Nerviorum
Cuneus Armaturarum .
Ala I. Herculea
Cohors VI. Nerviorum
Stan wicks.
Conga vata
Axelodunura
Gabrosentis
Tunnocelum
Glannibanta
Alio, or Alionis..
Bremetenracura . .
Olenacum
Burgh on Sands.
Drumburgh.
Bowness.
Tynemouth.
Lanchester.
Whitley Castle.
Brampton, or Old
Penrith.
Old Carlisle.
Ellenborough.
Cohors II. Vardulorum
Cohors III. Nerviorum
Cohors II. Vardulorum
at Old Penrith.
Ala Auijusta
Virosidum
Cohors I. Hispanorum
The first thing which strikes a spectator of these Roman stations
or cities, stretching across the island from the Solway Firth to the
North Sea, is their number, and the magnitude of the remains of
many, after a lapse of fifteen centuries. They were populous and
strongly fortified towns, contrasting strangely with the present
population along three-fourths of the line, were garrisoned by the
strong detachments of Roman soldiery, and placed in support of
each other, with all the skill of Roman warfare.
* Gordon, in his Itinerary, above a century since, was the first to attempt to fix
the sites of the Notitia stations on correct principles. Where a station produced
inscriptions by the same cohort as the Notitia mentions, he concluded that the
station was rightly named. Horsley added new proofs to those of Gordon, and out
of the twi'lvo stations from Segedunum to Amboglanna, eight have yielded up in-
scriptions of this kind. — Jlodgsons NoHhumherlaiid, Vol. iii. Pt. 2. p. 168.
Taking the distance from Wallsend to Maryport at 91 miles (per
line of railway) and the stations, (omitting Carlisle) fifteen in number,
the average distance between the stations is six miles and a half.
They continue in a straight or easy continuous line throughout, and,
as the protection is afforded of the Solway, flanked by the stations
along its border, the stations are placed farther apart, but would
appear to have been of the first importance from the magnitude of
their mounds and ruins, and the numerous inscribed stones and
antiquities that have been preserved.
The station next to Carlisle, from which it is distant ten miles, to
the south-west is Old Carlisle *, and Ellenborough is sixteen miles
* Concerning Old Carlisle, Camden, who visited it in 1599, thus writes : " Below
this monastery the hay receives the Little Waver, increased by the Wiza, a small
river, at the head whereof the melancholy ruins of an ancient city teach us that
nothing in this world is out of the reach of fate. By the neighbouring inhabitants
it is called Old Carlisle ; but what its ancient name should be I know not, unless it
was the Castrum Exploratum. The distance, in Antoninus (who gives us the most
considerable places, but does not always go to them by the shortest cut), both from
Bulgium and Luguvallum, answers very well. For spying of an enemy, you could
not have a more convenient place, for 'tis seated upon a high hill (read eminence),
which commands a free prospect all round the country. However, 'tis very certain
that the Ala, or Wing (upon the account of its valour named Augusta and Augusta
Gordiana), quartered here in the time of Gordiana ; as appear from those inscriptions
I saw in the neighbourhood." Horsley remarks " its ruins are very grand and con-
spicuous. It stands upon a military way, very large and visible, leading directly to
Carlisle and the Wall." This road passed from Carlisle through Old Carlisle to
Ellenborough. Part of it was taken up east of Old Carlisle about twenty years ago ;
and westward it pursued its course south the present turnpike road, nearly to Waver
Bridge, then along the high grounds behind Waver Bank farm, north of Priestcroft
Colliery, where, as it crosses the road to Crookdake, it may be still seen, then over
Leesrigg Pasture and Oughterside Moor, where, I have been informed, traces of it
are visible.
A few days after we had completed the tour along the wall, I visited Old Carlisle.
The ramparts of this station are very bold and high, but the military ways near the
station have disappeared. At the Dial Inn close by is a fine altar found in 1845, in
Mr. Stead's field adjoining the station, and bearing the following inscription : —
DEAE BEL
LONiE. RVFI
NVS, PRAE
EQ, AL^ AVG
ET. LAINIA
NVS FIL.
" To the goddess Belloua, Rufinus, prefect of the Augustan cavalry, and his son
Lainianus."
The altar is 3 feet 2 inches high, 1 foot 5 inches broad, and 5 inches in thickness.
8
farther, within two miles of the sea. I must leave it to others to
explain why six Roman stations, Amboglanna, Petriana, Aballaba,
Luguvallum, Olenacum, Virosidum, if unconnected as a line of
defence from Tynemouth to Maryport, should be situated in the
same straight course. They were connected by a military paved
road with the rest of the stations to the eastern sea at Tynemouth,
and tied by another paved way, which ran from Ellenborough along
the shore of the Solway to Bowness. {Camden, p. 830.)
A consideration of the tabular view from the Notitia of the
stations |)«r lineam Valli, would lead us to believe that the whole net
work of Roman towns and forts from the North to the Irish Sea,
along the line of Hadrian and Severus's Vallum, including those from
the bend at Carlisle to guard the fords of the Eden and Solway, is here
meant; and that the stone or Picts Wall at the seras of Ptolemy,
Antoninus, and, possibly, of the Notitia Imperii, had not been con-
structed. This murus or stone wall, in Cumberland, at least, was
always called the Picts Wall. Leland, who wrote in 1539, mentions
it by no other name, and in all ancient maps, and probably modern
ones, if railways have not erased it, it is invariably written the picts
WALL. On the other hand, the Vallum of Severus or the earth
ramparts are by the inhabitants along its border called earth-walls,
and were in all probability coeval with the stations, which, according
to the principles of fortification, ancient and modern, would be
redoubts, or forts, in front of the line. In the early period of these
fortifications, with the Scots and Picts behind them, and a fruitful
country before, such a defence would be necessary. A ditch twenty
feet broad and from eight to ten feet deej), on the edge of which a
vallum raised, with the sods and soil dug from it, to the height of
five or six feet, would be effectual in preventing the enemy from
conveying cattle and plunder across the barrier*.
And Camden mentions, " some will needs maintain that the
ditch, though not the wall, reached as far as Tinmouth, which
they assert was called Pen-bal-crag ; that is, the Head of the
rampier in the Rock.'' — p. 858. That such was the object
of these earthworks all tradition maintains. During our
pilgrimage along the wall, on stopping at one place to examine
the vallum and fosse, our numbers attracted an old man out
of a cottage who said " he had been told by his grandfather
* Some portions of this fosse and vallum are so perfect, even at the present timf,
that, if cattle could bo forced over the vallum into the trench, they might run along
it, but would be got out with difhculty.
that these earth-walls were made to prevent the cattle being
carried away." On further inquiry, he added, " he had no
doubt his father or grandfather had told him." The fortified
stations adjoining would be secure from any hostile attacks of the
small bands of the enemy, and while these were garrisoned by
Roman soldiers the vallum and fosse along the intervals would
enable the adjoining Britons to sleep in security with their cattle
and flocks around their dwellings. It is indeed probable, that at
an early period, or in the time of Hadrian, the stations would be
only rising or as advanced posts, and have need of a trench to guard
the passes, which may account for the silence of Ptolemy the
geographerwho wrote in the reigns of Ti'ajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus
Pius, with respect to the stations mentioned in the Notitia, although
he notices many places both in South and North Britain, and also
in Ireland. We also know that a stone was found at Hunnum*,
and is now in the possession of the Duke of Northumberland, which
affords undeniable evidence that Antoninus Pius repaired Hadrian's
Vallum and the stations per lineam valli. (Hodgson's History of
Northumberland, Vol. iii. Part 2. p. 284.)
Bede expressly states that the Picts Wall was erected by the
advice, direction, and assistance of the Romans when they were
under the necessity of abandoning the Britons their allies. It ap-
pears that in the urgent requirement of Roman soldiers to defend
Gaul, the Britons had before been wholly, or in a great degree, left
unprotected, and were attacked and overrun by their old northern
enemies. After their signal repulse and slaughter by the Romans,
these retired to the Wall of Severus. The enemy probably satisfied
with the lowlands which they had, by the withdrawal of the Romans,
thus recovered, would remain quiet, and in this interval, with due
deference, we may fix the period for the building of the Picts Wall.
A blank in British Roman history occurs when as we read in the
Saxon Chronicle, " a. 418. This year the Romans collected all the
treasures that were in Britain, and some they hid in the earth, so
that no one since has been able to find them ; and some they car-
• That the 20th legion was employed, in the time of Hadrian, in works at
Moresby, on the coast south of Ellenborough, we have the authority of an inscrip-
tion, discovered in 1822 ; and here Acilianus, prefect of the first cohort of Delmatee,
left three inscriptions, one of which is on a tablet, in bold letters, like those in the
time of Hadrian, and for the safety of an emperor of the Antonine family — probably,
I think, of Antoninus Pius himself, the successor of Hadrian. — Page 239.
10
ried with them into Gaul." From which we may infer that the
wall was built between the years a.d. 409 — 418*.
Under the skill and direction of the Roman legion which had with
great slaughter driven off their enemies, the harassed Britons, un-
derstanding they were soon to be left to themselves, would joyfully
give their aid in the execution of a work to wall those cruel enemies
out, whom fatal experience had convinced them they could not
resist, or otherwise confine at home. This will account for the
magnitude of the work and its strength; the expense of which,
according to modem engineering charges at 16s. per cubic yard,
would amount to 1,021,269Z. 65. 8d. It is a wall of great boldness ;
every stone of which appears to have been laid in fear. It is car-
ried along the brink of high basaltic precipices many miles in
extent, and the uniform ashlar facing-stones must have often been
brought from a great distance. Without uniformity in construction,
in some places as it mounts the heights, the courses are laid j)arallel
to the surface of the ground, in other places, parallel to the hoiizon.
Even on the brink of frightful depths where no Pict or Scot or
other enemy, than an imaginary one, need have been feared, the
same unvarying wall is carried in all its height and thickness ; and
at one part may yet be seen, after braving
" A thousand years the battle and the breeze,"
from ten to twelve courses of facing-stones, seven to nine feet in
height, and eight feet in thickness. And when in the gaps of
the rock where the ground slopes down to the plain on the north,
the fosse of the wall is sure to make its appearance. The nu-
merous towers and bulwarks of stone which are recorded to have
been placed by Severus on the so often mentioned Vallum would,
in the erection in haste of such a wall, entirely disappear. The
inscribed stones, besides centurial stones, which have been taken
from the wall, are very trifling in number, and rather than militate,
confirm the opinion of Gildas and Bede as to the origin of the wall.
One is civitas dvmni, the City of the Hill; this stone Brand
saw at Glen welt; it is now at the Shaw's, Gilsland. Another is
CIVITAS DYMNONi, which was brought from the Roman wall, a little
* A. 409. This year the Goths took the city of Rome by storm, and after this
the Romans never ruled in Britain, and this was about 1110 years after it was built.
Altogether they ruled in Britain about 470 years, since Caius Julius first sought the
In nd . — A nglo-Saxon Chronicle.
11
to the east of Thirlwall Castle, when great quantities of stone were
brought from that ancient barrier to build cottages at Greenhead.
" It seems to me," says Hodgson, " of the same kind of inscriptions
as those called centurial stones, and was perhaps, like them, intended
to show that the part of the w-all in which it was placed was built
by a body of persons called Dumno)iii." Another stone, undoubtedly
Boman, was found near Burgh, in digging the foundations of the
wall ; a proof merely that the stone was lettered before the wall was
built, and probably, like many other stones in all parts of the wall,
belonged originally to the stations.
In his elaborate History of Northumberland, Hodgson gives a
long dissertation on the origin of the Roman barriers, the Roman
wall and works. He says, " that Leland, who wrote in! 539, calls
it the ' Picts Wall ' simply, and did not trouble himself with the
theories respecting its origin, which have arisen since his time."
No one has studied these theories more than the historian of
Northumberland, who has increased the number by one of his own.
He admits that the station of Burdoswald is older than the wall*,
but, buried deep in antiquity, he could imagine no hands but those
of Hadrian's soldiers to have been employed in the erection of so
un-/iowmu-like a defence. Even had the Scots and Picts been as
numerous as the Scottish nation at the present day, instead of one-
tenth, probably, of that number, the Roman legions would never have
required such a wall and ditch, already protected with earthen ram-
parts and guarded by fortified cities, as redoubts, almost within
sight of each other. The Roman soldiers were not accustomed to
fear, and would have thought themselves safe from attack when
protected by inaccessible precipices. The Britons, whom Roman
protection for a long period had rendered unwarlike, and the with-
drawal of which had just before exposed them to the " cruelties of
their barbarous " enemies, would be apt to consider no natural de-
fence, unaided by art, sufficiently secure.
From such an inspection of the more complete of the stations,
Cilurnum, Borcovicus, Amboglauna, &c., as a somewhat hurried
visit could afford, it would appear, where all is conjecture, that their
demolition was sudden. The Roman warriors, with the thoughtless-
* His words are — " But the Thirlwall, or Roman wall, though it forms a straight
line on its north side, with the rectilinear piirt of the north wall of the station, is
not tied into that wall, but built of much larger courses of stones, and much more
rudely than it, and thus evidently proves that it was of later construction." — History
of Norlhmiherland, Vol. iii. Pt. 2. p. 207.
12
ness of modern soldiers, might have commenced or aided in the de-
struction of their former homes, which, doubtless, they quitted un-
willingly. The action of fire, still visible on the walls, may account
for the early covering up and preservation of the plaster in their
houses, whilst the treasure we are infoi-med they hid, may be that
which for fourteen centuries has seldom rendered a search in vain
around their ruined chambers. When the rubbish is first cleared
from the buildings the inside walls are often found coated with a
fine plaster, but which speedily perishes on exposure to the air,
like the plaster in any building open for a length of time to the
weather. We also observed both at Housesteads and Cawfields;
the intended temporary marks (as by the comer of a chisel), parallel
to the edges of the square basement of a column, which had another
square stone of smaller dimension set upon it (to coincide with
these guiding marks), appear quite fresh. From which it has been
conjectured, the basement stone must at a comparatively early
period have been covered and protected from the weather: at Caw-
fields they formed the exposed massy basement stones of the north
and south gateways of the Mile Castle.
A feeling of another kind is apt strongly to fix upon such as pass
by their deserted habitations. On the richest soil of nature, or that
industry could form, these ruins have stood, during fourteen cen-
turies, more as melancholy memorials of the past, than temptation
to attract the residence of man. Like the tenantless abodes of
Edom and Syria, they are seldom visited except by wayfarers, whose
curiosity tempts them to view the troublous life of former times,
and the cities of the ancient dead, and exclaim with Volney, " Why
are so many cities destroyed?"* Whether the introduction of
Christianity into Britain, and the subsequent power and influence
of the monastic and secular clergy over the people, might not have
some effect in attaching terror to places defiled with altars set up
to heathen idols, it is certain these Roman towns have been pur-
posely shunned, and scarce a cottage has ventui'ed to rear its head
on the spot where false gods were worshipped.
• Volney's Ruins of Empires, chap. xi. p. 8.
CHAPTER II.
The recent excursion along the line of the wall was projected
by the Rev. J. Collingwood Bruce, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and was
at once responded to by other antiquaries in that neighbourhood,
as well as by gentlemen whose usual studies embraced objects of a
more modern character. The following progi'amme of the arrange-
ments, dated May 24th, 1849, was circulated, and the party in-
tending to join in the expedition were enrolled as " Pilgrims."
The Mayor of Newcastle (Captain Weatherly); the Rev. J. Col-
lingwood Bruce (the leader of the expedition), and Mrs. Bruce ;
William Kell, Esq., town clerk of Gateshead, and Mrs. Kell ;
John Fenwick, Esq., of Newcastle; John Fenwick, Esq., of Camp-
ville, North Shields; George Rippon, Esq., of Waterville, North
Shields ; William Beamont, Esq., of Warrington ; William John
Beamont, Esq., of Trinity College, Cambridge ; Richard Abbatt,
Esq., of Stoke Newington, London, and Mrs. Abbatt; Rev. W.
Greenwell, of Ovingham; Robert Walters, Esq., of Newcastle;
Drs. Glover and Embleton ; John Brunton Falconar, Esq. ; John
Brunton Falconar, Jun., Esq.; George Hardcastle, Esq., Sunder-
land ; G. W. Mounsey, Esq., Castleton, near Carlisle ; John
Thompson, Esq. ; George Bouchier Richardson, Esq. ; Jonathan
Vickers, Esq. ; David Mackinlay, Esq., North Shields ; James
Raiue, Esq., Durham ; Gainsford Bruce, Esq.
A party of ladies and gentlemen desirous of enjoying an anti-
quarian ramble in the summer of the present year, have resolved
upon taking the course pursued by the far-famed Roman Wall.
PROGRAMME OF THE ARRANGEMENTS.
Monday, 25 June, 1849.
Meet at Segedunum, Wallsend, on the arrival of the one o'clock
train from Newcastle. After examining the station there, proceed
14
towards Byker, aud trace the wall in its course to Newcastle. Dine
at four o'clock in the Castle of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, which is
within the ancient Roman Station of Pons ^Ln.
Tuesday, 26 June.
Leave Newcastle at eight o'clock (brealtfasting previously), pro-
ceeding by the Westgate. View Hadrian's Vallum at Adrianople.
CoNDERCDM, Benwsll. The Wall at East Denton. The Vallum
and Wall opposite Denton Hall. Heddon-on-the-Wall. Vindobala,
ilutchester. Harlow Hill, at about two o'clock, where lunch.
Proceed at three o'clock. Welton Water-works. The Vallum at
Carr-Hill. Hunnum, Halton Chesters. Vallum at S. Oswald's.
Wall, etc., at Brunton. Chollerford. Cilurnum, Chesters.
Wednesday, 27 June.
Start from Chollerford at eight o'clock. Walwick Chesters.
Tower Tay. Procolitia, Carrowbrough. Sewingshields. Busy Gap.
BoRCOvicus, House-steads, " the Tadmor of Britain," where dine at
about one o'clock. Start again at three. Mile Castle at Hotbank.
Crag Lake. Turn off at the east end of the Lake to Vindolana,
Chester Holme. Pi.etui*n to the Wall. Cawfields Mile Castle.
Haltwhistle Burn, where turn down to Haltwhistle for the night.
Thursday, 28 June.
Leaving Haltwhistle at eight o'clock, proceed to Haltwhistle
Burn-head, ^sica. Great Chesters. King Arthur's Well. Wall-
town. Magna, Caervorran, where dine at about two o'clock. Leaving
at four o'clock, Thirlwall Castle. Vallum at Wall End. Rose Hill.
Gilsland, where rest for the night.
Friday, 29 June.
Leaving Gilsland at nine o'clock, proceed to Rose Hill. Cross
the Poltross Burn. Cross the Trthing at Willowford. Amboglanna,
Burdoswald. Banks. Hare-hill. Turn down to Lanercost Priory.
Naworth Castle, where dine at about two o'clock. Proceeding thence
in the evening, by way of Casteads and Watch Cross, (or by railway
from Milton,) to Carlisle, where rest for the night.
Saturday, 80 June.
Meet at Stanwix Church at nine o'clock. Passage of the Eden.
Carlisle Cathedral. Castle. Burgh, where dine at two o'clock.
15
King Edward's Monument. Drumburg. Port Carlisle. Bowness,
where rest.
Monday, Q, July.
Leave Bowness in time to take the mid-day train from Carlisle,
and proceed to Haydon Bridge. After dinner visit Langley Castle,
and returning to Haydon Bridge, rest for the night.
Tuesday, 3 July.
Leave Haydon Bridge by second train for Corbridge, View the
Station at Corstopitum, Corbridge. Thence to Dilston Tower and
Hall, the seat of the lamented Earl of Derwentwater, and return to
Newcastle in the evening.
We now proceed to give some account of the present appearance
of the Roman Stations, the Wall and Vallum.
First Station. SEGEDUNUM. Wallsend.
On the arrival of the one o'clock train from Newcastle, the party
met at Wallsend, and proceeded to the examination of the Station,
accompanied by Messrs. Reay and Hetherington of that place, who
were intimately acquainted with the Roman localitj^ This Station,
containing about four acres, is situated on an eminence commanding,
at a bend of the river, an extensive prospect in both directions. No
traces of the buildings are left; but the south rampart, 135 yards in
length, with portions of the adjoining east and west sides, is faintly
perceptible. The south-east corner of the station had been tied to
the bed of the river by a wall : the distance to high-water mark is
113 yards. The slope from the station southward is as beautiful
as an Italian could have wished. The wall joined the west side :
some cottages and a chapel occupy its site. Leaving on the left
hand Carville House, through the out buildings of which the wall
had passed, we come to Stotes houses, which occupy its site ; the
northern fosse of the wall is occupied as a series of ponds for farm
purposes. One hundred yards west of Stotes houses, we come to the
first Mile Castle ; and, soon afterwards, crossing a valley where the
ditch is wonderfully distinct, we come by a style to a foot path upon
the line of wall. Here the Mayor, Captain Weatherly, remembered
the wall standing fifty years ago, three and four feet high for forty
or fifty yards. Passing Davidson's farm at Old Walker, the wall
ran through the middle of Waggon Way Houses, the fosse adjoining
10
the road, and, as in Hutton's time, was occupied by potato grounds.
Passing Byker Hill, and, leaving the Shields road nearly at right
angles, the wall crossed by the present Ouseburn Bridge into
Newcastle ; through the populous streets of which we were safely
conducted by Messrs. Bruce and Richardson. Passing on the right
the Windmill on the hill, the wall went through the site of the
present gardens of the house, called the Red Barns, now wholly
removed. Thence by and through the northern side of the Victoria
Bazaar, through Melbourne Street, by the east side of the Keelmen's
Hospital, by or through the Sally port (called rather improperly
Sally port Gate *) thence down the steep hill whereon this gate is
placed to the Stock Bridge, up or by Silver Street, Low Bridge,
Dean Street, the north side of St. Nicholas Church f. Horsley
says, "the wall passing through St. George's Porch, near the north-
west corner of St. Nicholas Church, must have been the eastern
wall of the station Pons ^lii." Then the wall ran in an oblique
direction from corner to corner of Collingwood Street, through Rose-
mary Lane, the Vicarage Gardens, through the Gardens of Cumber-
land Row, on the northern side of Westgate Hill, and thence by the
military road to Benwell.
Second Station. PONS MIAl. Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Within the Roman station of Pons ^lii is situated the Norman
keep of the New Castle, which without doubt occujiies the site of
some Roman tower or building in the station. Here the party,
who had been exposed to the rain for some time, sat down to a
sumptuous dinner in the Great Hall, the walls of which are hung
round with numerous banners, ancient arms, and armour. Here
are preserved by the Antiquarian Society of Newcastle, who have
charge of this building, the most complete collection of British
Roman Antiquities in the kingdom. The walls of this building are
first sixteen feet in thickness, and afterwards twelve feet, and
doubtless many lettered antiquities are walled up ; the King's and
* Thomasin Scott, an old woman sixty years of age, informed me, April 3, 1783,
that several years ago some workmen, in building a coach-house for Alderman Sowerby,
discovered plainly the foundations of the Roman wall, coming over the top of the
hill, and bearing to tlie north side of the present sally-port gate. — Brand's History
of Newcastle.
f Dr. Davil, who was Master of the St. Mary's Hospital in tlie time of Henry
VIII., told Leland that St. Nicholas' Church standeth upon the Picts Wall. —
IloOijsoiis History of Nortlmmherland.
17
Queen's rooms are within the wall itself. Along the walls of the
Library, which occupies another room, were placed numerous
drawings and views of the wall, which, in addition to their superior
execution, we afterwards found to be faithful representations.
These views should be engraved. Running through the ancient
station of Pons ^lii, is a more wonderful structure than any even
the Romans could boast — the high level bridge and railway. Whilst
we may lament the needless expenditure in constructing such a
bridge, and carrying a trunk line of railway over Newcastle, instead
of crossing the river higher up, and running into a line already
made, it becomes us to speak very charitably of the ambition and
avarice of the Romans, when suffering multitudes are now looking
with anguish on their children, in the recollection of contented
and happy hours.
" No petty gains despised by pride ;
The modest wants of every day
The toil of every day supplied."
From the absence of inscriptions belonging to this station, Brand
was of opinion that they were all " built up in the old keep of the
Castle *, and that a rich treasure of this kind will some time or
other be discovered lurking in its almost impregnable walls."
Another solution may be hazarded as being of the character of the
stations that guard the Solway, among the towns which formed the
Roman barrier between Ellenborough and Tynemouth.
* This castle was built by William Rufus during the lifetime of his father,
William the Conqueror. Hist of Northumberland, Vol. iii. Pt. 2. p. 174.
CHAPTER III.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 26th, the party re-
assembled at the Castle with their carpet bags and luggage, which
were deposited under the seats of a commodious vehicle, drawn by
two powerful horses, that soon obtained the names of Romulus
and Remus ; and, rivalling Roman horses, performed the march
along the military ways, per lineam Valli, to the shore of the Solway.
Pursuing the military road towards Carlisle, we come to One
Mile House, where the Vallum, appearing for the first time, is 100
yards on the left, and the ditch of the wall is distinct. The line of
Wall is the military road we are on, to form which, in 1746, for
the space of 20 miles, except where villages interfered, the Wall was
levelled, the foundations of which are continually making their
appearance.
Third Station. CONDERCUM. Benwell Hill.
This station is about two miles from Newcastle ; the ground
where the buildings have been is merely uneven, but the southern
rampart, with the appearance of a gateway in the middle, is very
distinct. From a plan of the station, drawn in 1751 or 1752, and
preserved, it is about 190 yards from north to south, and 130 yards
from east to west ; the line of wall crossed the station, in a direction
inclining gently to the south, and dividing it unequally. In the
northern portion are situated the farm house and buildings, erected
with station stones. Four round towers appeared to have adorned
the corners of the station. As the northern portion of the station
was in tillage, the party spread over the field, and picked up
quantities of Samian red pottery, one or two specimens exhibited
elegant shapes, and on some were the makers' names.
At Ryton Rectory, near Wylam, is a fine altar found at this
station, with an inscription of the following meaning, — " Marcus
Liburnius Fronto, a centurion of the second legion, in the due per-
19
formance of a vow set up this altar to Jupiter, the best, the
greatest, the endurer-for-ages, and to the other divinities, for the
health of the Emperor Caesar Titus iElius Hadrianus Antoninus
Pius, and of the second legion called Augusta." This emperor
reigned from a.d. 137 to a.d. 159.
A number of thriving beeches mark the west side of the station
south of the road or wall.
At the foot of Benwell Hill, the road turns a few yards to the
right, and we obtain a first sight of the Picts Wall — the fragment
is 14 yards long, 9 ft. 8 in. thick, and shows two courses of facing
stones, with a single stone of the third course. The apple tree
growing upon it, mentioned by Hutton and others, is still there, but
is much decayed. About five miles from Newcastle is Wallbottle ;
the stones of the Wall appear on the road, and the north ditch is
distinct ; the scenei'y is very fine.
Before arriving at Heddon-on- the- Wall, 7 miles from Newcastle,
the road veers to the right to avoid the village, when 300 or 400
yards of the wall form a fence, from three to five courses of facing
stones appearing, and the fosse of Hadrian's Vallum is cut through
the solid rock.
Fourth Station. VINDOBALA, Rutchester.
The dimensions of this station are nearly the same as the last, or
180 yards from north to south, and 135 yards from east to west.
The line of wall, as at Condercum, has crossed the station from east
to west : but the greater portion here lies to the north of the wall,
the ramparts only are distinguishable. The adjoining farmhouse is
supposed to have been a Peel-house where cattle were folded and
protected. We were gratified with the sight of several Roman
antiquities found here. Some, in a perfect state, were placed over
the chimney-piece. A stone of a Roman figure, with a hatchet in his
hand ; another, with the word dec, and a man holding a bull by the
horns were also seen. Five altars were found here, which are de-
scribed in the " Archseologia ^liana," Vol. IV. Over the stable door
is the fragment of a stone, with the letters avb ... Riv .. nis.. We
saw another with the inscription coH. vi aprilis. In the field ad-
joining, we were shown a bath cut out of the rock 1 2 ft. 4^ in.
long, 4 ft. 9 in. broad, and 1 ft. 10 in. deep, it had a hole at one
corner : when discovered it was filled with rubbish and some bones,
with a metallic instrument, of what nature I do not remember.
c 3
•20
At Harlow Hill, ten miles and a half from Newcastle, the wall
appears opposite the turnpike gate, and may be traced through the
yards and farm buildings on the left of the road, which occupy the
north fosse of the wall. We lunched at the inn here. We were
invited to inspect some curiosities at an adjoining house, when the
owner informed us that, on removing the wall in his ground, at a
place north of the wall called Graveriggs, he foiind nearly together
a great quantity of bones. On inquiring, he said the place had been
called Graveriggs for centuries. We moved on at three o'clock, and
soon came to Welton Waterworks, which consist of five reservoirs for
supplying the town of Newcastle with water. The wall or road i*uns
between the two most northern reservoirs. The vallum and fosse
of Hadrian is generally very distinct all along, but at Carr Hill, we
were first struck with the completeness of these earthworks.
Although a description of these ancient works must necessarily be
dull, the journey itself, and the examination of them, proved
highly interesting and instructive. The company, too, were suffi-
ciently numerous to insure a constant variety in opinion and view,
and interchange of sentiment. The leading theories as to the
authors and origin of these different barriers, formed througliout the
journey the prominent feature of discussion. The situation of the
works at the place we are now arrived at gave an interest and
novelty to the question. Carr Hill is a considerable eminence of no
great extent, having on the north the AVall and its fosse, and on the
south the vallum and earthworks complete. It was admitted that in
the absence of the wall, an enemy, obtaining possession of this
elevated ground, might command Hadrian's Vallum and fosse. The
principles of fortification, both ancient and modern, remain the same,
altliough the details are different. The close vicinity of the fortifi-
cations of Hunimm, and the larger question as to whether the
earthen ramparts, protected by such outworks as the stations, were a
defence against the Picts without the Wall, might possibly be over-
looked. That they would impede plundei-ers, whose aim was to
avoid Carr Hill and other eminences, was not a question with us.
Fifth Station. HUNNUM. Halton Chesters.
A short distance from Carr Hill, and fifteen miles from Newcastle,
is the Roman Station of Hunnum. Hadrian's Vallum adjoined the
south rampart, and the wall passed through the station. Owing to
21
a valley, the western Wall of the station has a set-ofF, so that the
northern portion is about one-third narrower than the southern
portion. From the following inscription, seen by Camden in 1600,
on a stone, dug up at this station, it is concluded this was Hunnuni,
as the "Liber Notitiarum" calls it.
NORICI . AN . XXX.
. . ESSOIRVS MAGNVS
FRATER EIVS
DVPL . ALAE
SABINIANAE
intimating that one Messorius Magnus, a soldier in the Sabinian
wing, on double pay, erected this stone to his brother Noricus, who
lived thirty years.
On the south the rampart and ditches are still perceptible. The
farmer here had removed much of the great Wall, as the buildings
testified all around ; at which any reflecting person can hardly be
surprised, who knows how difficult it is to interest others in views
and studies, of whatever kind, to which they have no inclination.
Here also pecuniary motives operated ; the farmer told us " the stones
were ready dressed, they had no trouble with them." Considerable
quantities of Roman copper coin are still occasionally found in the
northern portion of the station, now a field called Burnt Halfpenny
Field; so plentifully, indeed, formerly that, as was remarked,
" they were hard fash'd to pass them for a farthing."
In 1827, the Hunnum baths, 132 ft. in front, were discovered;
of which a plan has been preserved, and may be seen in Hodgson's
" History of Northumberland,'" Vol. iii. Pt. 2.
The ground of this station is flat; after ascending a long and
gently inclined hill, we come to Portgate *, where the military road
we are on is crossed by an old Ptoman road, called Watling Street,
which has all the peculiarity of Roman roads, being quite straight
for several miles. At the point of junction is Stagshaw Bank Bar.
The breadth of the wall, as marked by the stones on the road, is
9 ft. 7 in.
On the left of the road on the summit of the hill, these earth-
works are wonderfully perfect ; the foundations only of the wall are
seen on the road. Fig. 1, see Plate.
At St. Oswald's the road leaves the wall, and, on the left hand
* At Portgate, or Portyate, a few furlongs from Hunnum, the great military way,
tailed Watling Street, crossed the barriers. — Camde/
en.
22
in a field adjoining a portion of the Wall, 106 ft. long, has
five courses of facing stones, and is 6 ft. 2 in. thick. Some large
thorn trees have grown upon it, one of which, at the east end, had
been recently blown down, and its " old fantastic roots " had destroyed
and brought with them a portion of the wall. According to Hut-
ton, two hundred and twenty- four yards of the wall stood here
7^ ft. high, at the commencement of the present century; the
destruction of which by the proprietor he so feelingly laments. In
strict equity, however, it should be known that the owner left the
highest portion standing. From its appearance, however, now, it is
possible Hutton might have been misinformed as to the height of
the part taken down. At High Brunton, in a gentleman's pleasure
grounds, the wall is standing seven courses high for some distance,
against which is placed an altar, found near St. Oswald's church.
The wall is descending rapidly to the North Tyne.
It had been arranged, through an invitation from John Clayton,
Esq., the town clerk of Newcastle (who is the largest owner of the
Picts Wall) to the conductors of the expedition, that the Pilgrims
should dine and lodge for the night at his seat at Chesters. On ap-
proaching the bridge at Chollerford, a great concourse had assembled,
and we were conducted by Mr. Clayton to view the remains of the
Roman bridge, and the station within his grounds. We had travelled
upwards of twenty miles, and were somewhat behind our time. The
interest excited by the examination of this station still further de-
layed the hour of refreshment. Our carpet bags having been pre-
viously taken into our respective rooms, at length, about nine o'clock,
we sat down, in number about twenty, to an elegant dinner. The
examination of the antiquities preserved in a house in the pleasure
grounds being delayed till the morning.
Sixth Station. CILURNUM. Walwick Chestees.
The cohort at this station had the important charge of guarding
the Roman bridge over the north Tyne; the foundations of the
three piers, from the lowness of the water, being plainly to be seen.
Some had holes in them, which may have been luis holes; but,
whether the Romans were acquainted with this plan of raising
stones, which is disputed, they could scarcely be ignorant that a rod
driven into a cylindrical hole would lift a stone of immense weight
consistent with its resistance to the crushing force. The river here
is about 80 yards wide. From the numerous remains of antiquity,
23
this station must have been of importance. Its dimensions are
190 yards by 133 yards, and some portions have lately been
opened out by Mr. Clayton. A fine hypocaust was examined with
great interest ; and many of us, for the first time, comprehended the
method which the Romans used in heating their baths and rooms.
The floor was supported by pillars about 3 ft. high, built of
square tiles, although some were formed of rude single stones, and
within the spaces the flames, heated air and smoke, circulated, which
air passages conveyed to other parts. About these dwellings were
many passages, turned arches and recesses; to investigate their
purposes would be as vain as to expect an ancient Roman to have
accounted for contrivances in a modem building. An exposed arch
to some passage was, when first opened to the air, coated with
beautiful plaster, which is now completely destroyed. An anti-room
to the bath measured 12 ft. by 6 ft., in which a fine stone image of
a river god was found. This beautiful piece of ancient sculpture
was the most perfect we saw in our excursion ; it is placed in the
hall of the mansion. We inspected a vault 10 ft. by 9 ft., and
6 ft. 4 in. in height, supposed to have been the serarium or treasure
house of the station. When first discovered, about the commence-
ment of the present century, its door of wood, strongly sheathed
with plates of iron, and the whole firmly riveted together with
large square nails, was lying before it. It opened inwards. The
floor was of thin freestone flags, between the joinings of which were
found several counterfeit silver denarii, both of copper and iron,
plated with silver.
Our limited time admitted of a very superficial examination of
the curiosities in the antiquity house. The first object that attracted
notice was a large stone slab, with a long inscription*, in which
were astvrum. legvi. v. ; proving that the legion who were quartered
here were Spaniards. A beautiful statue of a female in a tasteful
Grecian dress, standing upon the back of a bull, the heads of which
had not been found, next drew our attention. We observed a fine
Corinthian capital, and two portions of its shaft; numerous hand
mills, the marks on which are exactly similar to the dressed mill-
stones of the moderns, with many unknown articles. A circular stone,
one of our lively companions, on inquiry, said was a potter's wheel.
The north rampart of the station was opened out last winter;
* To tie fniind in Hod"son's " Northumberland."
24
and, in the spring, 1 5 yards of the west wall, exposing four courses
of stones, were laid bare. The wall is 5 ft. thick.
An interesting altar found at this station, but taken to Durham,
bears the following translation : —
" Sacred to the gods of the shades below."
" Fabius Honoratus, tribune of the first cohort of the Vangiones,
and Aurelia Egliciane, erected this to their most lovely daughter."
"Tender souls!" exclaims the feeling mind of Hodgson, "your
last act of piety to a beloved daughter has not been forgotten : the
altar that bears the memorial of your affection still exists, although
it has been banished from the ashes that were committed to its
care."*
The same author observes that " the Astures in exchanging the
sunny valleys of Spain for the banks of the tawny Tyne, might
find the climate in their new situation worse ; but a lovelier spot
than Cilurnum all the Asturias could not give them."
The prospect, diversified by rising hills, and the Tyne, is, indeed,
charming ; the beeches and hollies discover the nature of the dark
deep soil, in the perfect structure of their branches and leaves.
The beauty of nature, too, is aided by the skill and charms of art ;
and, pi-obably, it would be difficult for a stranger to say, which was a
greater ornament to this elegant mansion, the taste displayed by
Miss Clayton in the house and pleasure grounds, or the learning
and hospitality of her brother.
* Tombstones seem closely allied to the best and most endeared feelings of our
nature ; and had the hopes and consolations of Christianity been planted in the
breasts of those pious parents, how would they have throbbed at the sight of such a
memorial, and been cheered with the joyful thought of meeting their lovely daughter
again !
CHAPTER IV.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 27th, our numbers being
increased from Hexham and the adjoining parts, we pursued our
joui'ney, and ascended to Walwick bank, where the view of the
scenery on the North Tyne becomes very fine. Passing Walwick
Hall, the seat of Thomas Butler, Esq., son-in-law to the late Henry
Tulip, Esq., we find, in a plantation above the house, the wall lying
all in heaps, and grown over with brushwood ; the north ditch, as
usual, is distinct, and more conspicuous up the lengths of two fields,
ascending to Tower Tay. On the verge of another plantation, we
saw the wall, 5 ft. 5 in height, and seven courses of facing stones ;
in another place for 10 yards the wall was 5 ft. 9 in. high, with
three courses. The earthworks on the left of the road soon after
arrested our attention. The south, or outer, vallum measured 30 ft.
over, and about 3 ft. high ; the inner vallum, 9 ft., and nearly
2 ft. high : the distance between them was 14 ft. The fosse was
26 ft. across, and from 9 to 10 ft. deep. The prospect on all sides
was most extensive. We now come to the comer of a field adjoining
the road where a Mile Castle, 57 ft. by 54 ft., had stood. Climbing
over the stone fence, we were astonished at the labour of forming
the northern fosse of the wall through Whinstone Rock. One
fragment of rock, among many others of rather less size, measured
10 ft. 3 in. long, 4 ft. 7 in. broad, and 3 ft. 6 in. in thickness;
across a middle section, the diagonals were 5 ft. 3 in., and 6 ft. 6 in.
The solid contents would be upwards of 130 cubic feet, and the
weight more than eleven tons. Other blocks of scarcely less weight
were lying in the trench that had never been raised. A short
distance onwards, Hadrian's Valla and fosse, on Carrawbrough Hill,
Tepper Moor, where it exists perhaps in its most complete and
original state, excited our admiration and surprise. Plate, Fig 2.
Half a mile from this we arrive at
26
Seventh Station. PROCOLITIA. Cahrawbrough,
No dwellings are situated near this station, which is a square of
130 yards in the side. The eastern and southern ramparts are still
marked and plain, and the line of wall goes along the north side.
The suburbs have been to the south and the west, on which side is
a spring of pure water. Some labourers were hacking up the
foundations and mounds for stones for fence walls. A stone trough
was lying on the ground which had been dug out of the ruins. The
Pilgrims also set to work ; and an altar, with the following in-
scription HviTE RiBVS p. IBVS ; a hinge, a dagger, a coin, supposed of
Tetricus, and some pieces of potteiy, were the fruits of a visit to
this station ; these, with another altar, discovered in a dry wall near
the well, were carried off, to be added to the already rich collec-
tion of antiquities at the Castle in Pons ^lii. The spring men-
tioned above is called by the neighbouring people, Bath Well, and
was formerly a Roman bath, with a building over it. In the
library of Durham Cathedral is preserved a fine altar found at
this station. " To Fortune the first cohort of the Batavians is com-
manded by the Prefect Melaccinius Marcellus." The value of this
altar, says Hodgson, consists in its corroborating the testimony of
the Notitia that the station was the Procolitia of the Romans,
garrisoned by the first cohort of the Batavians.
The north ditch of the Wall on this common is very bold and
distinct. The road which has, with very trifling exceptions, occupied
the line of the Wall for upwards of twenty miles, now begins to
diverge to the left, and the Picts Wall forms the stone fence, of a long
narrow inclosure, by the side of the road. On quitting which, the
wall begins to mount the heights to Shewingshields, but is miserably
broken. The valla and fosse which have been mostly visible on the
left, pursue the low grounds, being naturally fortified and defended
by the great Whin Rock for ten miles, and, with redoubts or forts
added at the gaps, would be in complete defence. About half a
mile from Shewingshields we come to a small plantation, which
occupies the site of a Mile Castle, thirty yards by twenty-two ; the
north fosse of the wall is discontinued as the wall ascends.
Shewingshields Castle is seen just below, in the great expanse of
the northern waste, but we did not visit it. The bank here was
studded with cowslip roots. At the farmhouse of Shewingshields
considerable numbers were assembled, attracted probably by the
novelty of the expedition ; these increased all the way to House-
27
steads, at which place the party consisted of between two and three
hundred persons. The view can be better felt than described ; ex-
tensive moorland on every side, the Cheviot hills on the north, and
the Northumberland lakes, naked and bare, in the west. Where
we had no means of ascertaining, it is dangerous to conjecture, but
the cliffs, along the highest ridges of which the wall is carried, can-
not be less than 300 feet above the northern plain. About a mile
from the point at which we quitted the road, we come to an opening
in the wall called Busy Gap, where a break of the rocky mountain
ridge occurs. We observed a triangular entrenchment just below on
the north. Busy Gap is said to have been the place where the Moss
Troopers broke through the wall in bodies for plunder. The facing
stones of the wall are laid in courses parallel to the horizon, as it
rises the hill. Camden mentions — " Busy-Gap, noted for robberies,
where we heard there were forts, but durst not go and view them
for fear of the Moss-Troopers." * Passing a Mile Castle which (my
notes say) sloped to defend a point of the wall, the rear of the party
reached the main body, encamped at Borcovicus f .
Eighth Station. BORCOVICUS. Housesteads.
Since the days of Dr. Stukeley, who was herein 1725, and be-
stowed the title of the ' Tadmor of Britain ' upon Housesteads, this
station must have been stripped of many of its remains of antiquity ;
still sufficient is left, which cannot easily be removed, to make it
the most interesting station upon the Wall. It is, like all the other
stations, rectangular, and measures 203 yards from east to west,
and 117 yards from north to south. The northern half of the
station is flat, on the basaltic rock, and commands on every side
the most extensive prospect. On the north, stretched far and wide,
appears the interminable forest of Lowes, now a desert, so called
* Hodgson, in a note, says — " Camden and his friend. Sir Robert Cotton, trusted
their safety to the thieves of Kedesdale ; but the pass of Busy Gap was too notori-
ously infamous for strangers to come near. Even a century afterwards, Grindon
Know was the nest of a clan of thieves, of the name of Armstrong, which was the
terror of the country ; and that Housesteads stood in a perilous spot, may be inferred
from the fact that the present (late) proprietor's grandfather gave only £58 for it
and the grounds about it, which a few years since let for £300 a year." — Vol. iii.
Pt. 2. p. 185. It now belongs to Mr. Clayton, who informed us he experienced
much competition at the sale, on account of the richness of the soil, but none from
the Roman antiquities, from which it was concluded that antiquaries were generally
poor.
f Borcuni, an adjoining hill, and vicus, a village.
28
from the small locks in it. The other half is a sunny slope, which
extends considerably. The walls or ramparts are very distinct, and
in high ridges. And the lines of the streets and angles of the
numerous buildings are plainly to be seen. Part of a stone pillar,
as left standing by the Romans, measured at the base 30 inches
square, afterwards 18 inches square, and was 44 inches in height.
Another pillar, 3 feet high, was near it. We examined the gateways
on the west, south, and east sides. That on the west con .
sisted of two passage-ways with a solid pier between them
measuring 4 feet across. The gateways measured 9 feet 3
inches, and 9 feet 6 inches respectively in the clear, and had
been closed by folding gates, which moved on pivots two inches
in diameter, let into the threshold ; the holes of which were,
by long use, rounded at the bottom, and coated still with the
blue tinge of iron. The eastern gateway was also very distinct.
The wheels of the carriages had worn the stone pavement placed
at the entrance 4 or 5 inches deep. In the middle of the pas-
sage way a stone was fixed, which would have made it difficult for
a one-horse carriage to have gone through ; it was suggested by one
of our companions, that all the carriages which passed might be
drawn by two horses abreast. The distance between the wheels of
the Roman can-iages, as measured by the ruts in the stone pavement,
was 4 feet 8 inches. One portion of the eastern gateway appears
to have been walled up, the open one was 7 feet 6 inches in width.
The sockets in the threshold were, as at the western gateway, quite
rounded at the bottom, and showed the irregularities of the pivots
by the circular ridges in the cylindrical surface.
The west half of the south gateway was 7 feet 2 inches wide,
flagged with stones, which were much worn by the feet of pas-
sengers. In the middle was a stone about a foot high, for the
leaves of the gates to shut against. The gates opened against
recesses in the wall. The north gateway was not examined, but at
the foot of the cliff, we were conducted to a bath or well, 4 feet
by 8 feet 3 inches, built of large freestone facing stones ; we thrust
a stick along the facing stones through the rubbish to the depth
of 4 feet. Two channels opposite to each other were cut at the
ends ; one led to a spring in the rock, 2 or 3 feet distant. Hodgson
says that this well was used as a bath, when the late Mr. Matthew
Magnay of Shewingshiclds occupied Housesteads.
A Roman Pistrina, or place for drying and grinding corn, in a
good state of preservation, was examined. In front of the farm-
Q9
house is a Roman well, built in the usual Roman manner, with
large facing stones of freestone; it was 3 or 4 feet in diameter;
of the depth I have no note. Around the wall were Roman troughs,
mill-stones, and other ancient stones.
At the foot of the valley in front, is Chapel Hill, near which
was discovered in 1822 a Mithraic cave, 12 feet 8 inches, by 10
feet, in which were two altars ; one of which ran thus : " Publius
Proculinus, a centurion, in due performance of a vow to the god,
the sun, the invincible Mithras, lord of ages, — their highnesses,
Gallus and Volusinus being consuls."
The other : " To the god the sun, the unconquerable Mytras,
lord of ages. Littorias Pacatianus, a consular beneficiary, for him
and his, willingly and duly, according to a vow, erected this altar."
The above altars, with a zodiacal sculpture between them, stood
with their backs towards the west wall in front of a recess, which
was in the middle of the west wall, 7 feet long by 30 inches deep.
The east wall of the cave had a doorway through it, and, to the
level of the floor inside and outside, the wall was faced with hewn
stone. The necessary requirement of a plentiful supply of water
was provided.
Some years since, the flues of a furnace or hypocaust were dis-
covered ; they were choked up with soot, and an iron grating was
placed at the mouth of one.
On the site of the building, or cave of Mithras, the lord of ages,
Mr. Bruce delivered an address to the assembly, and compared the
debasing worship of the Romans with the pure religion of our Holy
Redeemer. In all their monuments they never mention death, or
exhibit any hopes of the future, but merely state such a person
lived so many years, months, and days ; yet their ambition and love
of empire could not exempt them from the feelings of humanity,
which was so abundantly testified in their sepulchral stones. A
father sometimes dedicates a stone " to his most beloved daughter; "
a parent records that such a child " had not a single fault; " a hus-
band raises a stone to an endeared wife, and informs us that " they
lived without a single quarrel." The address concluded with ex-
cellent advice, suited to the feelings it was calculated to raise, which
the multitude returned by three hearty cheers for the Queen.
Leaving Housesteads soon after three o'clock, where we had
been nearly three hours, we continued the labour of noting down,
and mounting stone walls. On the hill of Borcum, adjoining the
station, the wall shows five, six, and seven courses of facing stones,
30
and is 7 feet high. Some of the party walked upon it for the
space of a mile. After scaling the immense basaltic cliffs, along
the highest ridges of which the wall keeps its unvarying course,
and climbing over innumerable stone dykes, which abound in this
district, we reached the Mile Castle at Hotbank ; this is situated
half way down the hill, and measures twenty yards by sixteen yards.
After many of the party had partaken of the hospitality of Mr.
Armstrong, the occupier of the farm here, they separated ; far the
greater portion turning off here and at Crag Lake, to visit Vindolana
at Chesterholme, a Roman station between one and two miles to the
south of the wall ; whilst the rest continued the fatigue of the crags
and the wall to Cawfields near Haltwhistle bum head.
Ninth Station. VINDOLANA. Chesterholme.
The tour along the line of Roman stations, between Tynemouth and
Ellenborough, ought to be made, accompanied by some gentlemen
skilled in the military profession, before a just view can be obtained
of the relative position of these stations, and the line of defence
which they strengthened. It would be interesting to a military man
to visit this point of the barrier, (Murus or Vallum,) and a station
placed at such a distance from the works, but opposite the great
gap at Crag Lake, and on the Roman military I'oad which ran from
Cilumum to Magna.
This station is situated nearly a mile from Hadrian's Vallum, and
more from the Basaltic ridge of the Wall ; it w'as the station of the
fourth cohort of the Gauls, and stands about 100 yards north of the
Roman road, formerly called Carlisle Road ; a portion, doubtless, of
the military way which pursued its route by Old Carlisle to Ellen-
borough, on the Irish Sea.
Hodgson states, that at this station, in 1832, many large broad-
bedded stones had a long hole in their upper surface, by which they
had been raised to the top of the wall, and that upon and about one
of them belonging to a gateway three hundred small brass or rather
bronze coins, mostly of Constantius and Magnentius, but a few of
Constantine II. and Constans, were found, not in a heap or vessel,
but dispersed among the soil, evidently after the cordon stones of
the tower had fallen from its top, and very probably some seventy
or eighty years before the supposed date of the Notitia, in a.d. 450,
which authority garrisons the fourth cohort of the Gauls here at
the time.
31
Vindolana, or Chesterholme, is 34 miles from the east end of
the Wall, and has nine stations to the west, and eight to the east ;
it measures about 154 yards from north to south, and 88 yards from
east to %Yest. The ramparts are still visible quite round, and the
ditch is distinct. The suburbs have been chiefly to the south-west
and west side of the station. The antiquities are principally col-
lected into the arcade, scattered about the garden, or built into the
walls of a cottage or villa residence, erected about twenty years ago.
The Pilgrims were received by Mrs. Routledge and family with the
most polite and kind attention.
A fine altar found here, October 22nd, 1831, near the eastern
gateway of the station, bears the following inscription :
" To Jupiter, the best and greatest, and to the rest of the immortal
gods, and the genius of the pretorium Quintus Petronius, son of
Quintus, of the Fabian family, surnamed Urbicus, prefect of the
fourth cohort of the Gauls from Italy, and of a house of Brixia, per-
formed a vow for himself and family."
It does not fall within the scope of this little work to give the
original of the inscriptions on the altars, many of which are not
easily accessible, and practice is more essential than elegant Latin,
to decipher many of them. As an example, I give the following
of a stone found at this station in 1818, of a tablet form, with a
rude moulding round it, and which had no doubt been inserted into
the wall of the station. It is still veiy fresh and perfect.
NI
D •.• M
CORN. VICTOR . S . C
MIL . ANN . XXVI CIV
PANN . FIL SATVKNI
PP . VIX . AN . LV . D . XI
CONIVX . PEOCVRAVI
Diis Manibus. Cornelius Victor, sibi constituit, miles annos
viginti sex, civis Pannonise, filius Satumini pientissimus, vixit annos
quinquaginta quinque dies undecim : conjux procuravi.
To the gods of the shades below. Cornelius Victor ordered his
ashes to be buried here. He was twenty-six years a soldier, a
freeman of Pannonia, and the very pious son of Saturninus.
3-2
He lived fifty-five years and eleven days. I, his wife, saw his
order executed.
Another stone was found in an adjoining field in 1810, raised to
the memory of a person who lived twenty-four years, three months
and eight days. " It marked, no doubt," says Hodgson, " the grave
of a young foreigner, which filial affection or friendship placed there.
It is melancholy to reflect how many similar monuments have been
erected along the line of Roman forts to foreigners snatched away
in the prime of life. And the earth in this long barrier line doubt-
less contained the ashes of thousands of warriors attached to the
Roman army, whom the rigor of our northern winters and change-
ful climate consigned to premature graves."
The Roman mile stone is standing by the side of the military way,-
probably in the spot where it was placed by the soldiers of Hadrian
or Severus.
Pursuing the Wall from the east end of Crag Lake, I was anxious
to discover some inscribed stone which belonged to the Wall itself,
independently of the stations, but my search was in vain. Except
Centurial stones, of which the following is one, 0 Valeriani, the
century of the Company of the Valerianus, I believe the inscribed
stones belonging to the Wall are none, or very few.
Crag Lake, which laves the base of the immense cliffs sustaining
the Wall, is the most romantic of the Northumberland lakes, and
well deserves a visit from the pleasure tourists at Gilsland. At
the west end of the lake, the facing- stones of the wall, fi-om 4 feet
to 5 feet high, remain on both sides ; the wall is 7 feet thick,
and the courses are parallel to the horizon. A short distance
farther it is 6 feet high. After passing a Mile Castle, situated most
snugly in the mountain, I unexpectedly came upon two magnificent
goats on the south side of the Wall. I turned my eye scarcely for
a moment : they were nowhere to be seen. Astonished at such an
apparition, I mounted the Wall, and after a short time I saw them
with some others, several hundred yards below. I easily recognised
them, for they were nearly double the ordinary size, but how they
had descended to the foot of the immense cliffs, I am at a loss to
know.
The Wall here mounts the steepest crags, but sometimes the
foundations only ai'e to be seen. When a gap in the rocky moun-
tain ridge occurs, the Wall winds round so as to cross at the highest
part of the pass, and immediately seeks again the most elevated
33
ridge. In all such places the northern fosse is distinct and plain.
Before coming to Winch-hill Crag, I often found the facing-
stones on the north side entirely gone, whilst on the south three or
four courses, as originally laid, remain. The view from the summit
of Winch-hill Crag is very extensive. Criffel and the Scotch coast,
Tindal Fell, the Cheviot Hills, and North Tyne Head, being clearly
visible. Rising from a valley, I observed three courses of the Wall
parallel to the surface of the ground, this is observable in several
places, but is contrary to the principles of modern masonry. Before
coming to Shields on the Wall, I observed for a considerable dis-
tance both sides of the Wall faced with three or four original courses.
At Cow-gap, a Mile Castle is occupied by a garden. Here I found
a stone trough precisely similar to one -which we saw among the
ruins at Carrawbrough ; but such a trough may be seen at any farm
house.
At different points of this day's tour, we observed a set-off in the
Wall from 6 to 8 inches. The centuinal stones are supposed to have
been placed in the Wall at the places where certain Companies under
the direction of a centurion commenced their portion.
At Cawfields, where another gap of the mountain range occurs, a
considerable number of persons had assembled in expectation of
meeting with the main body of the Pilgrims : this also was the case
at other points on the route from Crag Lake.
Crossing the Vallum, which is distant about 230 yards from the
Wall, we arrived at the Fi-eestone quarries in Haltwhistle bum,
along which we proceeded to Haltwhistle, where we joined our
companions, and passed the night.
CHAPTER V.
MILE CASTLE AT CAWFTELDB.
" You tell me that at first a wall
Was built of turf alone ;
But soon one stood through all its length
A citadel of stone.
" An ancient man mused o'er the plan.
And thus was heard to say :
' The more men lend and give and spend
In war, the more they may.' "
Old Humphrey* .
On Thursday the 28th, the party returned to the Wall at Cawfields
Mile Castle, which has lately been opened out by Mr. Clayton, and
is the most perfect of any of the secondary castra on the line. A view
of this Mile Castle faces the title page. The ground on which it is
built slopes from the Wall, which forms its north side. It has two
gateways opposite to each other, on the north and south sides.
The sockets in the massy threshold, where pivots have worked in,
are to be seen as perfect as when first made. The upper pivot of the
gates worked in the lintel above. The gates have opened back into
a recess on each side. The inside measure from east to west is
59 ft. 3 in., and from north to south, 48 ft. 6 in. The height of
the walls, which are 8 ft. in thickness, like the Wall itself, are from
5 to 6 ft. high. The north gateway has been walled up on the
inside, but the foundation sockets and recesses are similar to those
on the souths Opposite to the north gateway the ground is
precipitous ; but the road leading to it proceeds for some distance
down a declivity along the northern side of the Wall, which com-
* "When I am commander-in-chief," continues this ancient pilgrim, "all fortifica-
tions shall be built of turf, and all guns, great and small, shall be loaded with the same
material. None but officers shall be allowed to go on a forlorn hope ; the place of
the officers, too, shall be always in the front during an attack, and in the rear during
a retreat. These, with one or two other trifling regulations, would materially im-
prove the whole system of warfare very much for the better."
35
pletely commands it. The lowest point of the gap is distant about
60 yards from the Mile Castle, and is defended as usual by the
ditch. Soon after we leave this fine castella, we pass the mounds of
a turret, where the Whinstone Rock is interrupted. The Wall, in
crossing Haltwhistle burn, turns at a decided angle to join the high
grounds. The foundation of the Wall upon which we walked, on
approaching the station at Great Chesters, is 7 feet broad.
Tenth Station. .^SICA. Great Chesteks.
The ground of this station is four or five acres. On the corner of
the Garth Wall stands a Roman altar, facing the south. The trenches
and ramparts are bold, particularly on the west. A cave built of
hewn stones, covered by an arch whose chord measured 6 ft. 9 in.,
and height or versed sine, 3 ft. 3 in., is supposed to have been the
serarium of the station, and was very entire : the breadth of the arch
was 6 ft. 6 in. From the appearance of the walls of this cave other
buildings probably adjoin. In digging at the north-west corner of
the station, we came to the charred substances indicative of fire.
The station occupies an elevated position. The vallum is seen
indistinctly in the valley, being half a mile distant.
A quarter of a mile forward, we come to Cock Mount Hill, where
the wall is 4 or 5 feet high : the earthworks are still seen
pursmng the valley, while the Wall ascends the crags. At Allolea,
we come to a Mile Castle, 64 ft. from north to south, and 53 ft. from
east to west. On Allolea ground the wall is 6 and 7 ft. high, and
shows on the north nine courses of facing stones ; at another place
ten courses appear, and the height, 6 ft. 4 in. Near this place the
Wall had been reduced in thickness, by a set in of 4 in. for three
successive courses. Here the view is most extensive, Crossfell in
the south being conspicuous. At Mucklebank Crag, on the most
elevated point, stands the truncated pyramid of stones and earth,
left by the ordnance surveyors.
Another trigonometrical station was seen between Crag Lake and
Crawfields.
On an elevated and romantic point of the ridge, commanding the
niche at King Arthur's Well, stood another Mile Castle. The passage
of the rugged cliffs was toilsome under a hot and broiling sun ; but
the fatigues of the day were overbalanced by the hospitality of the
Northumbrian people. Around King Arthur's Well at Walltown.
and the adjoining crags, were seated numerous parties of Pilgrims for
D 2
36
the day. After a welcome halt of about an hour, and an interest-
ing lecture suggested by the associations of the place *, we once more
commenced with the wall to ascend the rocks ; and, passing a Mile
Castle 48 yards by 60 yards, we mount Wall town Crags. Here we
observed six courses parallel to the horizon as the Wall mounts the
hill ; at another place, at a similar inclination, several courses were
laid parallel to the ground. The Wall on this crag is very fine on
the north side for a considerable distance. On clearing away the
fallen stones and rubbish from the bottom, we found ten and twelve
courses of facing stones, and the Wall 8 ft. 9 in. high, and 9 ft.
in thickness. On the north the Wall is defended by an insur-
mountable precipice; and a craggy valley on the mountain, with
blocks of basalt scattered over its surface, protects the facing stones
on the south. If an idea of the Picts Wall in all its strength is to
be formed at this distant day, it must be visited on Walltown Crags.
On reaching the termination of those breezy heights, on which the
Wall had run for many a fatiguing mile, we beheld, far below us,
all the little eminences near Caervorran, covered with a gay com-
pany. Everything, indeed, appeared combined to yield unmixed
pleasure. The day was delightful, the mountain air fresh and
exhilarating, and the young rejoiced in their holiday, — when there
occurred one of those events which every now and then happen to
mar our present joys, and cast a gloom over the brightest hours. A
beautiful and favourite dog, belonging to a lady, who, with her
husband, had joined us for the day, was killed by a falling stone,
whilst waiting its turn to scale the last stone fence.
How sprightly was that little dog,
When morning's tour began,
Unhurt among those rifted rocks
The happy creature ran.
Though danger frowned along the heights,
Fate knew its time and power ;
Undreaded, in the quiet vale,
Approach'd the fatal hour,
* The shelving rocks are covered with great abundance of chives, said to have
been brought thither by the Romans. Camden, whom we have so often quoted,
states, " There is a persuasion among most of the neighbourhood, handed down by
tradition, that the Roman garrison, upon the frontiers, planted, in these parts,
abundance of medicinal plants for their own use." — p. 840.
37
Eleventh Station. MAGNA. Caervorran.
The ground within this station, as measured by Mr. Waller the
surveyor of the military road through Cumberland, was four acres
and a half. It lies within the Manor and Township of H^altwhistle,
and 200 yards from the Picts Wall. Little of the station ruins
remain. We saw the farm-servant who ploughed up the east
boundary of the station. The old Roman causeway came in at the
south. On the ground of the station in a field, we observed an
ancient trough, 5 feet 7 inches in length, 7 inches deep, and 7 inches
wide at the top. In the court yard and along the garden wall ai*e
innumerable Roman antiquities, as hand mills, inscribed stones, &c.
An altar was observed to be built into the wall of the farm-house
high up, near the eaves.
Leland, in his Itinerary, mentions " the great ruins of Caervorein
the which be nere Thyrwall."* Camden describes this station in
his journey eastward, as follows : " Beyond Thirl wall the Wall opens
a passage for the mad river of Tippal ; where on the descent of a
hill, a little within the Wall, may be seen the draught of a square
Roman fort, 140 paces in length: the very foundations of the houses,
and tracks of the streets, being yet fairly discernible. The Moss-
Troopers report that there lay a high street-way, paved with flint
and other stones, over the tops of the mountains, from hence to Maiden
Castle, on Stane-Moor. 'Tis certain it went directly to Kirbythor.
This place is now called Caervorrain. ^Miatever its ancient name
was, the Wall near it was built higher and firmer than elsewhere ;
for within two furlongs of it, on a pretty high hill, it exceeds 1 5
foot in height, and 9 in breadth, on both sides, ashler, tho'
Bede says it was only 12 foot high." In reference to this state-
ment of the height of the Wall, Bishop Gibson, in his additions to
Camden, observes — " J5t;cZ^s account of the Roman Wall (Eccl. Hist.
1. 5. c. 10) is very likely, fair and true. For, in some places on the
Wasts, where there has not been any extraordinary fortifications,
several fragments come near that height, and none exceed it. His
breadth also (at eight foot) is accui'ate enough : for wherever you
measure it now, you always find it above seven." If the height of
the Wall at this point was in 1600 as Camden asserts, it appears
somewhat surprising that it should have decreased 6 feet in 200
years, and none in the succeeding 50 years, as we find from Hutton.
* A statue of Apollo, found at this station, was presented by the Rev. John
Wallis, M.A., in 1776, to the Hon. Daines Barrington. — Hutchinson's History
of Cumberland, Vol ii. p. 367, note.
38
After dinner and another excellent lecture from Mr. Bruce, to
the great concourse assembled in the court-yard, we resumed our
march to the west. Opposite the station the foundation or breadth
of the Wall only appears, but the northern fosse is bold. The fol-
lowing dimensions, as it descends the hill to Thirlwall Castle, were
taken by Mr. Hardcastle. Breadth at the top 41 feet 9 inches, at
the bottom 14 feet length of each side, slope 16 feet. The Wall and
Vallum leave Thirlwall Castle a little on the north.
The distance from Caervorran to the next station at Burdoswald
is two miles and three quarters. In the middle of the interval,
between the Whin-Crag bari-ier and the river Irthing, stands
Thirlwall Castle, where tradition relates the Scots and Picts broke
through the Wall. Fordun, the old Scotch historian, in his Scoto-
Chronicle, relates that "The Scots having conquered the country
on both sides of the Wall, began to settle themselves in it; and,
summoning the boors (with their mattocks, pickaxes, rakes, forks,
and shovels), caused wide poles and gaps to be made in it, through
which they might readily pass and repass. From these gaps this
indented part got its present name ; for in the English tongue the
place is now called Thirlwall*, which, rendered in Latin, is the same
as MuTUS 2>6rforatusy — Camden, p. 848.
The interval from the great whin-barrier to the river Irthing is
by nature the weakest part of Hadrian's line of defence. The im-
portance attached to it was manifest in the construction of two
strong stations placed within three miles for its protection— Caer-
vorran, the tracks of whose streets were seen by Camden, and
Burdoswald, whose present remains excite our surprise and ad-
miration. In the erection of the Wall, this point was further
strengthened by three Castella placed at equal intervals f.
At Haltwhistle, where the Tippal enters, the Tyne is a very con-
siderable river, and increases all the way in its parallel course with
the Vallum to Newcastle or Tyneraouth. And the Vallum, as it
proceeds westwards, follows the course of the Irthing and Eden
to the Solway. The character of the Scots and Picts was allied
more to plunder than purposes of conquest ; their object, as stated
by their own historian, was " readily to pass and repass." Never
* Thirl is a common acceptation in the north for an opening left in moor fences,
for sheep to pass to and from the commons adjacent to the inclosed grounds. —
Hutchinson's History of Cumherland, Vol. i. p. 64.
f The distance from Caervorran to Burdoswald, by the line of the Wall, is two
miles and three quarters ; in this space tliree castella are visible, at equal distances,
each interval containing just six furlongs and a half. — Ibid. p. tJi.
39
was a line so defended to repress marauders, whose aggressive
strength consisted not in numbers, but in devotion to themselves
and their country. A strong vallum and fosse protected by two
deep and difficult rivers, and, according to the principles of forti-
fication defended, not by redoubts, but by strongly fortified towns,
almost within sight of each other and garrisoned by Roman soldiers —
surely, if, to this you add the immense Wall and ditch, the sarcasm
of Dr. Johnson, mentioned in Boswell, referred to the ancient Picts*.
Thirl wall Castle is a fine ruin standing about 100 yards north of
the Wall designed in latter times to protect it, as the stations defend
Hadrian's Vallum. It belongs to the Earl of Carlisle. The walls
are 8 feet thick, inclosing one floor, 45 feet by 21, and communicating
with another 15^ feet by 13 feet, each having beam-holes for four
upper floors.
The company here was very numerous, and Mr. W. Beaumont
addressed some excellent observations on the habits and practices
of mediaeval life, on the construction of these border castles, and
strikingly pointed out the superiority of order and law in the minds
of the people. Three hearty cheers, as usual, to the lecturer, con-
cluded our stay, and formed the signal for moving forwards. The
Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, within a short space twice crosses
the Wall, within which interval some houses, as tradition relates,
occupy the site of the first gap in the Wall. The Wall makes its
appearance on its second approach to the railway, a short distance
west of the station at Rose Hill. On approaching Gilsland, where
we were to rest for the night, all the company, at this fashionable
place, turned out to view the novel sight of Pilgrims along the
Roman Wall.
* We may observe that, however the habits and customs of a people may alter,
and practices become less convenient, yet deeper principles and circumstances affect-
ing the national mind are subject to little change. Probably more English phmder
has been conveyed up Annandale during the last three years, than by the ancient
Picts and Scots in a quarter of a century. If their descendants will but maintain
their position, ahdicationemque munerum vitent, in a line of road which leads to
the richest district of England, they may always set at defiance the Anglo Britons,
whose character, as portrayed by St. Gildas and Bede, has undergone no alteration
during thirteen centuries.
CHAPTER VI.
After a night of refreshing sleep many of the Pilgrims arose
early, on the fine morning of the twenty-ninth, to enjoy a delightful
morning's walk along the sylvan shades of Gilsland, where the
picturesque windings of the Irthiug afford a constant succession of
rocky glen and woody scenery. Nor was the far-famed well over-
looked, or to taste of its healing waters forgotten. After breakfast-
ing at one table, thirty-six in company, we entered our vehicle, to
proceed to the Wall at Rose Hill, a distance of two miles, accom-
panied by many of the visitors of the hotel. We called at a
thatched cottage which was once occupied by Meg Merrilies, when
the mayor and others were greatly amused with the description
and sight of the holes under the bed where her friends used to be
concealed. Crossing the small stream of the Poltross, which divides
the two northern counties, on the top of the bank we examined the
site where formerly a Mile Castle stood. On constructing the railway,
which buried the Wall and its fosse some 20 feet deep or more, a few
yards of the Wall, showing four or five courses of facing stones, were
opened out on the north side of the embankment. The Wall now
forms field boundaries, and hedges grow upon it till it arrives at
the Irthing. On passing Willowford, the faint traces of the third
Mile Castle from Caervorran were pointed out. The fosse of the
Wall is very distinct. Some oak trees are growing in it, and on
its northern bank. On arriving at the river, considerable difficulty
arose in the passage, still more in climbing the steep bank along
which the Wall has mounted. By the assistance of large stones,
which lay plentifully about, we formed stepping stones, which enabled
the ladies to cross the water ; but none of the party completely suc-
ceeded in ascending the precipitous bank by the course of the Wall.
The attempt is very dangerous, and, as success accomplishes nothing,
should never be tried by those whose life and existence are in any
way useful ; an accident might render the future one unavailing
scene of regret and sorrow. At the summit, two barrows, a short
distance on the north, were pointed out, and the faint traces of a
41
Mile Castle to guard the pass of the river. Considerable discussion
here took place on the change in its course which the Irthing at
this point has made in the lapse of centuries ; but the problem was
left to be solved at a longer visit and of greater leisure.
Twelfth Station. AMBOGLANNA. Burdoswald.
We entered this important and very interesting Roman station at
the north-west comer, where the Wall, as Hodgson remarks, although
it makes a straight face with the northern side of the station Wall,
is different from it, and is not tied into the station Wall at tlie
point of juncture. If, as Gildas * says, " the Wall was erected
along the line of the cities which had been built for fear of the
enemy," they would doubtless adopt the mode which is witnessed
here. The thickness of the Wall at 4 feet from the ground, is
7 feet 8 inches, and seven or eight courses appear on both sides.
The thickness of the Wall of the station is uniformly 5 feet, like
the station Walls at Cilurnum. The thickness of the Walls of
the Mile Castle at Cawfields is the same as the Wall itself, both
at that place and here, nearly 8 feet. The height of seven or eight
courses of the Wall, where it joins the west Wall of the station, is
upwards of 6 feet ; the height of fourteen courses of the station Wall
at the same point is 7 feet 5 inches. The Wall and the stations
are both uniform works, but are very dissimilar. From which we
may infer the Roman Stations are a prior work to the Picts Wall
and the Castella upon it.
The walls of this station are higher and more complete than
those of any we have passed, or which are upon the whole line.
The western gateway is H feet wide. With the assistance of the
farm-servant, we found the foundation of the gateway and the re-
cess similar to those at Housesteads. A Roman pisti'ina, similar
to those of that station, is standing beside the southern Wall of the
station here. Some buildings have been opened out near the eas-
tern Wall, and the walls and foundations of others ai'e doubtless
concealed by the turf. Hadrian's Vallum forms the fosse of the
south wall of the station. Its situation is high, on a considerable
plain, which terminates abruptly in a steep descent to the river.
* The title of the old translation" of Gildas is as follows : — " The epistle of Gildas,
the most ancient British author : who flourished in the yeere of our Lord, 546. And
who, by his great erudition, sanctitie, and wisdonie, acquired the name of Sapiens.
Faithfully translated out of the original Latine. London, 12mo., 1638."
49
The prospect is one of picturesque woodland scenery. The party
found the base of a figure of Mercury or Esculapius, which they
carried away.
Horsley says there are few stations upon the Wall to which so
great a number of inscriptions belong as to this at Burdoswald ;
for to this place must be referred the twenty-five, which he
gives in the "Britannia Romana." The inscriptions on eight of
the altars commence with the words jovi optimo maximo cohortis
PRiM^ ^LLE DACOKUM. Without laying much dependence on the
protection of Jupiter, the multitude of inscribed stones, and con-
necting circumstances, prove that the Roman soldier rested here
in much learned or lettered leisure. A fortification standing upon
live or six acres, and strongly garrisoned with veteran troops, would
reduce the Scots and Picts to caution and prudence, and render the
Wall, however needful afterwards, quite unnecessary at this period.
Hodgson proves, from inscriptions found at Olenacum, that the
same cohort occupied that station uninterruptedly for 200 years.
Hence there can be no doubt such a frontier garrisoned by soldiers
of a foreign clime, shut out from their own attached country, and
tied together by one common interest and common language,
would induce much social intercourse between the different sta-
tions. In the garden of the farm-house we saw a stone with an
incomplete inscription on its rim. Were we to allow liberty to
antiquarian imagination, this stone might have been for the purpose
of regulating the distribution of Libri along the linea Valli. The
number of stations, as appears from the Liber Notitiarum Imperii,
is twenty-three. The names being placed at equal intervals round
the rim of the stone, in regular order according to vicinity, if we
suppose the Libri were changed once a month always in a regular
manner; the Libri at Segedunum to be forwarded to Pons Jlllii ;
those at Pons ^lii to Condercum, &c. ; those at Olenacum to
Virosidum, and the Libri at Virosidum to Segedunum : and
further allow the Novi Libri to be given out monthly in the follow-
ing identical order: Segedunum, Petriana, Pons ^lii, Aballaba,
Condercum, Congavata, Vindobala, Axelodunum, Hunnum, Gabro-
sentis, Cilurnum, Tunnocelum, Procolitia, Glannibanta, Borco-
vicum. Alio, Vindolana, Bremetcnracum, iEsica, Olenacum, Magna,
Vimsidum, and Amboglanna, the following circumstances would be
perpetuated. Every station would constantly receive a monthly
supply of fresh books. No station t (juld ever have a deficiency ;
none a supcrfiuily of books. All the stations would be on a per-
43
feet equality as to priority iu readiug tlie books. A glance at the
stone, which had no doubt a moveable concentric wheel within the
circular rim, with the names of the books and the date on its
circumference, would enable the Secretary in charge to know what
books each station was reading ; who also could quietly direct from
time to time the course of reading at any station, and turn occur
ring events to Roman advantage. Such a plan was, in the scarcity
of books before the discovery of printing had multiplied them,
doubtless recommended by its economy. It is equally adapted to
modern stations and to private book societies, whose members wish
to purchase no more books than they have time to read, and be on a
perfect equality as to priority of receiving the new books; the
secretary also wishing to have only two minutes' trouble per month
in directing the circulation. The plan loses none of its interest
from our having been indebted for it to the Romans, and the re-
storation of the stone is probably complete.
The Wall as it leaves the station along the road-side, and for a
considerable distance, has several courses of facing stones on both
sides, and the ditch is distinct. Farther on we came to a place
where had been cast up two Valla, thirty-five yards distance be
tween. At a Mile Castle the two works approach the Wall, or
rather its site upon the road ; the first Vallum comes up to the
Mile Castle. Leaving Banks Head we soon come to Pike Hill,
where the scene is truly magnificent. On the south-west and
south are the Cumberland Mountains and Tindall Fell ; the wide-
spreading Solway iu the west, and Bewcastle Hill to the north.
At some distance beyond this the Wall leaves the road, and a piece
of the Wall is standing on the left 80 or 100 yards distant. The
Wall may also be seen where it crosses Banksburu. Soon after
we arrive at Harehill, where a portion of the Picts Wall, which
. separates a cottage garden from a field, is seen standing, 9 feet
8 inches in height. An ash tree which grew upon it was, last
winter, blown down, and had carried a portion of the Wall with it.
The tree was lying as it had fallen, and prevented us clearing
away the sloping turf, when, probably, we should have found it little
short of the height as seen by Warburton*. The facing stones on
* Warburton says, " This is the highest part of the wall that is anywhere now to
be met with; we measured three yards and a half from the ground, and, no doubt,
half a yard more is covered at the bottom by the rubbish, so that probably it stands
here as its full original hcigjit." — Vallum Royiiamun, 4to, I7f>3. Although pro-
lialily the highest, it is insignificant compared with the remains on Walltown Crags.
44
both sides have long since been gone, and it owes its preservation
to the ivy with which it is strongly embraced.
" Thus stands an ancient Wall with ivy boiind ;
Thus youthful ivy clasps a wall around."
At this point, according to arrangement, we turned down to visit
Lanercost Priory. The cultivated grounds and standing crops of
hay-grass interfered with our longer following the line of the Wall,
which has long disappeared, although its northern fosse is mostly
traceable through to Stanwicks.
At the distance of six miles and a quarter from Burdoswald
stands the
Thirteenth Station. PETRTANA. Walton Chestee, or
Caststeads,
but was not visited. Hutton speaks of this station as follows : —
" The works are wholly gone ; for a gentleman, who like other
' wise men from the East,' had acquired a fortune in India, re-
cently purchased the estate on which this castle stood for thirteen
thousand pounds, stocked up the foundation, and erected a noble
house* on the spot. Other stations preserve the ruins, but this
only the name ; and is the first which has been sacrificed to
modern taste." — History of the Pionian Wall, p. 211.
The former appearance of the station is thus described by Hutchin-
son. " This station, now surrounded with fine cultivated lands,
and in the progress of improvement, most probably would have
been totally destroyed and defaced, had not some former proprietor
of the estate in which it lies, before the spirit of cultivation and
enlarged husbandry had taken place in this county, and the depre-
dations committed by the borderers had ceased, either planted, or,
at least, suffered the whole station, with its outworks, to be over-
run with a forest of oaks. By the bottoms or stoles of some of the
trees, which, when we first visited the place, a. d. 1778, appeared
to be then lately cut down ; they could not have attained the
strength they showed in less than a century. This has, in a degree,
preserved the distinct figure of the station. It lies about 400
yards south of the Praetenturse of Hadrian and Severus, but must be
admitted one of the stations ad lineam Valli, as it occurs at a very
proper distance to answer to the station called Petriana in the
Notitia, where the Ala Petriana was settled. The two now com-
* Walton House.
45
inonly accepted names of Cambeck Fort and Castle Steads are tlius
to be accounted for ; the former from the situation near the brook
of Cambeck, the latter, tlie common appellation given to the castella
and Roman stations of Casters or Chesters. The situation of this
camp is excellent, on the ridge of a hill, having a swift descent
to the north and south, and commanding an exteiisive prospect
northward along the Wall, having in view the station of Watchcross
westward, and Burdoswald to the east : and it w'as capable of being
alarmed by any beacon from Carr-voran." History of Cumberland,
p. 102.
Lanercost Priory, situated half a mile from the Wall, was visited
by a numerous party, many from the neighbourhood and from
Brampton having joined us. The church was undergoing com-
plete restoration ; a grant from the Crown, to whom the Priory
belongs, having greatly aided the parishioners in that interesting
object. The Picts Wall, which was distant about half a mile,
furnished most of the materials for its structure. In the Denton
MS , as quoted by Hutchinson, we find " Lanercost ad costeram
vallis (on the side of the valley) was first a lawn or plain in that
glen or valley, where the Picts Wall standeth, and Walton was so
named, as the fii'st habitation which was built on part of that Wall."
Vol. I. p. 55.
On a tablet in the wall of the church is the following inscription :
" Robertus de Vallibus, filius Hubert, Dns. de Gilsland, fundator
Priorat. de Lanercost, A°. Dni. 1116. ^dargan Uxor ejus sine
Prole." Robert de Vallibus, son of the Lord of Gilsland, founder of
the Priory of Lanercost, Anno Domini 1116. Adargayue, his wife,
having no issue.
In the crypt, walls of the out-buildings, and other places,
were Roman altars and inscribed stones. One altar preserved
here, which came from Burdoswald, has an inscription which
reads thus : " To the holy god Silvanus, the hunters of Banna
(Bewcastle) consecrate this." From this curious inscription it
would appear that the Scots and Picts, prior to the building of the
Wall, were sufficiently overawed to allow the Roman soldiers at
Amboglanna to become sportsmen in the woods and moors of
Bewcastle; the station of wliich was at first probably a sort of
hunting box *.
* Mr. Hodgson quotes an inscription recorded by Hutchinson, which " makes it
probable that the station of Bewcastle was subordinate to Amboglanna." — History
of Northumlerland, Vol. iii. Ft. ii. p. 206.
40
Having spent a considerable time examining the place, going up
winding stairs and threading arclies, we proceeded to Naworth
Castle, where the noble owner, the Earl of Carlisle, had given in-
structions for the proper entertainment of the Pilgrims, and the
Baronial Hall was set out with ancient pewter plates in style of
former times. Here, also, in the grounds and other places are
many Roman altars and stones, which came from Burdoswald; but our
attention had by this time become fatigued, and most of our stay
was taken up in examining what was easier, and more attractive as a
novelty, the beautiful restorations of this border castle. The wea-
ther also began to threaten, and after a hasty visit to the library of
the accomplished Loi'd William Howard, commonly called " belted
Will," we found most of our companions, with Romulus and Remus,
ready to start forward to Brampton and the rock on the Gelt. By
the time we had reached the Gelt Bridge the rain had commenced.
None of the party had ever seen the written rock ; but several of
them were loth to miss the present opportunity of examining it. Ac-
cordingly, engaging a little girl from the toll bar, the only guide we
could obtain, six or eight of the party set forward, and, entering a
wood, walked briskly for a mile and a half along the side of the river
till we came to a stone quarry, which our juvenile guide said was it.
We could see no writing, and were quite in a dilemma, till a
labourer, who was passing by, set us right, and crossing the river a
little higher up, as we were able, with our new guide, we descended
on the opposite bank, till we came to some high smooth rocks,
which we were informed was the written rock. Never was
a cliff so examined before, but although all eyes were directed
to it, no inscription, or anything like letters, could be discovered.
Disappointed, but amused and cheerful, we crossed the Gelt a
second time, and sought our friendly vehicle once more ; but the
" written rock of the Gelt," or the inscription, we failed to see. In
Camden, p. 835, we find the following account: "Along near
Brampton runs the little river Gelt, upon the bank whereof, in a
rock called Helbeck, is this gaping*, imperfect inscription set
up by an ensign of the second legion called Augusta, possibly that
Optio under Agricola, the Propra3tor, with some others ; the sight
whereof time has envy'd us." Then follows the inscription in a
rude woodcut.
Since looking at an engraving of the " Written rock on Gelt," in
* In allusion to the carving of a head on the rock.
47
Hutchinson's Cumberlaiul, I think it probable our second guide
(although he had never seen the inscription, and knew not on what
part to look for it) pointed out the true place, particularly as it is
on the south side of the river, and the inscription cannot be seen
except by the aid of a ladder.
From the many inscriptions recording the performance of a vow,
these would appear to have been common in all ages, and among all
nations, and founded upon the universal belief in some directing
and controlling power over human affairs. " Then the men feared
the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and
made vows." Jonah i. 16. When performed, they would truly
be considered useful, but very unwise and dangerous when broken.
At Brampton, the Mayor of Newcastle, whose of&cial duties called
him home, left the party, and proceeded to the Milton station.
We had now a long drive in the rain over crossroads to Stanwicks,
where on Roman ground it had been appointed we should rest.
On arriving about nine o'clock at the Rose and Thistle, we were
informed that the farmers had been greatly alarmed on hearing
that 300 Pilgrims were coming out of Northumberland across the
fields by the line of the Picts Wall.
The evenings on. these occasions were of a social character, and
the events of each day furnished abundant sources of improving
conversation, independent of the great topics — the Romans and
their works. To several, the younger portion and the most ad-
vanced in life, the exertions had however become sufficiently
fatiguing, whilst the absence of the Wall deprived the journey
of the excitement which had hitherto been conspicuous, and had
given a recurring interest to the expedition. But the greater
portion suffered not, and maintained their attention and interest to
the shores of the Sol way.
CHAPTER VII.
Fourteenth Station. ABALLABA. Stanwicks.
On the ensuing morning, Saturday, June 30th, the party viewed
the site of the station at Stanmcks, and received the attentions of
the Rev. Thos. Wilkinson, the vicar of that place. This gentleman
presented the Pilgrims with a beautiful figure of Victory found in
the walls of the Old Church when it was rebuilt*. We walked
from the station, which occupied the site of the church-yard and
adjoining gardens, some distance eastward, along the footpath which
is upon the Wall leading to Tarraby. The fosse of the Wall is still
visible, and some faint traces of Hadrian's works. We saw a
quantity of stones lying in Mr. Watt's field which had been taken
from the footpath. We spoke to the old clerk, Mr. John Hill, who
informed us that he remembered the Wall standing sixty years ago,
4 feet high upon the path, and at Wall Know the fosse of the
Vallum was very distinct at that time.
The church stands upon the Wall which ran along the north
rampart of the station. Although this station must yield to many
others in the number of its inscriptions, it may boldly assert a pre-
eminent rank in the beauty of its situation. Eastward from the
footpath may be seen, at twenty miles distance, the nine niches
in the Basaltic mountain ridge we had trodden, beyond Thirlwall
and Caervorran. On the south appear the beautiful grounds of
Rickerby House, the seat of G. H. Head, Esq., the winding of the
Eden, the ancient city, and the long vista of country terminating in
the Cumbrian Mountains. In the church-yard were three ancient
bases of pillars, or capitals, lying against the walls of the church.
West of the station the north ditch is very distinct. The Wall
passed along the eastern boundary of Hyssop Holme Well,
* The argument advanced on the care of the station antiquities rests upon two
points, which, under all the circumstances, are probably the best supported ; that
they should be preserved either at the place to which they belong, or in the castle
of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
49
thence across the Eden, where, in Camden's time, the fouudatious
were to be seen in the channel. But whether it joined the Castle
Wall, or passed to the northward, I must leave others to determine.
Leland, who had a commission from the King to travel in search of an-
tiquities, speaking of the Picth Waulle, says : " Fro Bolnes to Burgh,
about a iiii Myles, fro thens yt goeth withhi half a Myle of Cairluel,
and less on the north side, and crosseth over Edon a iii Quarters of a
Myle benethe Cairluel." — Itin. vol. vii. p. 60. Although Carlisle is
not in the list of Notitia stations, yet there is no doubt of its being the
Roman station of Luguvallum or Lugubalia, concerning wliich, take
the following extract from Lelaud : " In digging to make new Building
yn the Towne often tymes hath bene, and now a late fo\vnd diverse
Foundations of the old Cite, as Pavimentes of Streates, Old Arches
of Dores, Coyne, Stones squared, paynted Pottes, mony hid yn
Pottes, so hold and muldid that when it was strongly towched yt
went almost to moulder. The Irisch Men cawlle Bale a Towne,
and so peraveuture did the old Scottes. Thus might be said that
Lugubalia soundeth Luels Towne.'" — Ibid. p. 57. Antoninus calls it
Luguvallum ad Vallum, which, as Camden says, " runs just by the
city ; and the Picts Wall, that was afterwards built upon the Wall
of Severus, is to be seen at Stanwicks, a small village a little beyond
the Eden (over which there is a wooden bridge). It passed the river
over against the castle, where, in the very channel, the remains of
it, namely great stones, appear to this day. Also Pomponius Mela
has told us, that Lugus or Lucus signified a Tower among the
old CeltcE, who spoke the same language with the Britains." —
Brit. p. 833.
What is meant in the preceding extract from Camden, as to the
Picts Wall being built upon the Wall of Severus, is not quite clear.
To suppose that Severus only laid out the line, and 200 years
afterwards, according to Malmsbury, the Romans, aided by the Bri-
tons, erected a stately Wall thereon, will not satisfy the demands of
antiquaries, who claim the whole for Hadrian and Severus.
" That this City flourished in the times of the Romans does
plainly enough appear, both from the several evidences of antiquity
they now and then dig up, and from the frequent mention made of
it by Roman authors. And even after the ravages of the Picts and
Scots, it retained something of its ancient beauty, and was reckoned
a city. For in the year of our Lord 619, Egfrid, King of Nor-
thumberland, gave it to the famous St. Cuthbert, in these words.
I have also bestowed upon him the city called Luguballia, mth the
E
50
lands fifteen miles round it. At which time also, it was walled round.
The citizens (says Bede) earned Cuthbert to see the Walls of the City,
and a Well of admirable workmanship built in it by the Romans.
At which time, Cuthbert founded a religious house for nuns, with
an Abbess and schools. Afterwards, being miserably destroyed by
the Danes, it lay buried for about 200 years in its own ashes, till
it began to flourish again by the favour and assistance of William
Rufus, who built it anew with a castle, and planted there a colony,
first of the Flemings, then of English, sent out of the south. Then
(as Malmsbury has it) was to be seen a. Roman Triclinium, or dining-
room of stones, arched over, ivhich neither the violence of Weather
nor Fire could destroy. On front of it was this inscription, Marii
Victoria. Luguballia grown populous was honoui'ed with an Episco-
pal See by Henry I., and had Athulph for its first Bishop. How
the Scots in the reign of King Stephen took this City, and Henry
II. recovered it : how Henry III. committed the Castle of Carlisle
and the country to Robert de Veteri ponte or Vipont ; how in the
year 1292 it was burnt down, along with the Cathedral and suburbs * ;
how Robert Brus, the Scot, in the year 1315, besieged it without suc-
cess, &c., are treated of at large in our Histories. — Cam. Brit. p. 833.
An altar was found in 1829, on Gallow Hill, a mile south of
Carlisle. " To the shades. Aurelia Aurelia lived forty years. Ulpius
Apolinaris set up to his most dear wife."
Other Roman remains which have been described in Leland and
Camden, and some discovered since, leave no doubt of this place
being the site of a Roman City, probably of the earliest date.
At the Castle the party were met by Mr. D. Wilkie, who, in the
most courteous manner, conducted them over the various departments
of this ancient Norman Castle, the one built by Rufus. The
Roman stones to be seen in the Walls are innumerable. The
Roman Well, 90 feet deep, is precisely similar in its construction,
to that in the Norman keep, at Newcastle and at Housesteads.
Several of the company ascended the great tower, from which an
extensive and charming prospect is seen on every side. We saw
Queen Mary's table, inspected spears of the 14th century, ammuni-
tion and implements of modem warfare, bed-rooms of the soldiers,
* " The Chronicle of Lanercost is very particular in describing this lamentable
fire. He that recorded the account was an eye-witness, and says that the fire was so
violent, that it consumed the villages two miles off, as well as the church, castle,
and the whole city; by his relation, it should seem that the city was then much
larger, and more populous than at present (1600) it is." — Ibid.
51
and the dungeon, with the offset of the foundation for a stone seat
all round. The soldier who held the torch informed us that George
Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends, was the last person that
was confined in it.
Mr. Memess, the master gunner, also showed us much civility and
attention, and presented the Pilgrims with several Roman remains,
which were found in digging for foundations within the Castle Walls.
We have lost sight of the Wall and the Vallum, and time would
not allow us to visit the cathedral ; accordingly we pushed onwards
after stopping at Coldale Hall, the residence of George Mould, Esq.,
to inspect a fine altar found near Penrith in constructing the Lancas-
ter and Carlisle Railway ; also a Roman urn found along the line of
the Caledonian Railway. At Kirkandrews, upon Eden, we were in-
vited to examine another Roman altar, which was found at Kirksteads,
and is in the possession of Thos. Norman, Esq. At both places we
received the polite attention of the owners. The Picts Wall passed
through Kirkandrew's church-yard, in which were many Roman stones
fixed in the ground that had belonged to the Wall. Mr. Bell's coach-
house and stables are built of the same stones. The north ditch in
an adjoining meadow is very conspicuous. In this cultivated dis-
trict little or no remains of the Wall, I believe exist, but its course
is mostly known. It passed between the Windmill and the Thistle
Inn, kept by Jane Baty ; further on, the line of the Wall is upon
the road, and its fosse is distinctly seen.
Fifteenth Station. CONGA VATA. Burgh.
Arriving at Burgh, where we were to dine, the Pilgrims visited
the Church, which, during the long period of the border wai's, was at
once a place of worship, a strong fortress, and a secure prison. The
last two occupied the massy structure of the square tower.
In the church-yard the following lines are engraven upon a brass
plate, to the memory of a child named Hannah Hodgson, who died
Feb. 3rd, 1745-6.
" Here lies a maiden in whose tender breast
Each hope, each blooming virtue stood confess'd ;
The' short her date, she saw Peace leave the land.
And fierce Kebellion heave his bloody hand.
Saw hostile Rancour, ruthless Rapine rage,
Gone all her joys that Innocence engage.
To her release the dire Infection came,
And in the friendly tomb reposed her frame ;
From noise, from tumult, (sure her death is gain,)
She 's fled where love and peace for ever reign."
K 3
53
The station at Burgh is said to have been a httle to the east of
the Church, near what is called the Old Castle, but I know not
whether any of the party went to view its site. No station stones
or any part of the Wall can be expected to be seen in a district
destitute of native stone. Indeed, except from the testimony of
Leland and Camden, the inscribed stones would not afford the light
sufficient to pronounce it a Roman Station. Leland writes — " Burgh
yn the Sand stondeth a myle of fro the hyther Banke of Edon.
Yt is a village by the which remayne the Ruines of a greate Place,
now clone desolated, wher King Edward the Fyrst dyed. Here
was XV yeres ago the Lord Maxwel sore wounded, many slaine, and
drounid in Edon." — Lei. Itin. vol. vii. p. 55.
The inscription on a stone found in the Vicar's garden is complete
and very legible, but the letters, which are dec belatvca are very
rudely formed. The other is an altar that was found in 1792, in
cutting a drain 4 or 5 feet below the surface of the ground.
Both are dedicated to Belatucader the Mars or Apollo of the
Britons. The latter prays for prosperity to the person who raised
it and his family, pro se et suis. A representation may be seen in
Hutchinson's Cumberland, from which the preceding account is
taken. Its height is 6 inches, and breadth 4 inches; it is different
in its shape and appearance from the common Roman altar, Hodg-
son says, the Lysons were told this last was found between Burgh
Castle and Worraelby. Another small altar bears the following
inscription. " The centurion of the Vexillation of the sixth legion
made this to the domestic mother."* This was found in digging
up the foundations of the Picts Wall at Dykesfield.
Another inscription is as follows : hercvli et nvmini avg coi.
This inscription to Hercules and the Divine Augustus by a cohort
whose name is wanting, is on the upper half of an altar, built up in
the house of Mr. John Hodgson at Cross. It was found in the line
of the Wall.
After the Pilgrims had partaken of an excellent dinner at the
Inn, they proceeded, under the guidance of the Rev. John Brown,
M.A., of Bowness, and other gentlemen, across Burgh Marsh, an
immense expanse of fenny pasturage. Here Edward I., King of
England, died in his camp, on his expedition against the Scots, July
• The cohorts of the Roman armies were divided into centuries, each of which
was under the command of a centurion, and had its own vexillura, or ensign, on
which its number was inscribed ; hence, a century, or a detachment of a cohort,
under a centurion, was called a vexiWatio:'— Hodgson's Hist, of Northumberland.
53
7, 1307. The spot where the royal tent was pitched is marked
by a monumental column, bearing the following inscription :
MEMORIiE ^TERNiE
EDVARDI I. REGIS ANGLI^E LONGE
CLARISSIMI QVI IN BELLI APPARATV
CONTRA SCOTOS OCCVPATVS HlC
IN OASTRIS OBIIT 7. IVLII A.D. 1307.
" The inhabitants (as we find in Camden, p. 830) say that under
this Burgh, in the very aestuary, there was a sea-fight between the
Scotch and English ; and that when the tide was out, it was managed
by the horse : which seems no less strange than what Pliny relates,
not without great admiration, of such another place in Caramania.
This aestuary is called by both nations Solway-Frith, from Solway,
a town of the Scots that stands upon it. But Ptolemy names it
more properly Ituna; for the Eiden, a very considerable river,
which winds along Westmoreland and the inner parts of this count3\
falls into it with a vast body of waters ; still remembering what rubs
and stops the carcasses of the Scots gave it in the year r210, after
it had drowned them with their loads of English spoils, and swallowed
up that plundering crew."
Sixteenth Station. AXELODUNUM. Drumbugh or Drumburgh.
On the western edge of the marsh stands Drumburgh, and Mr.
Richard Lawson, who had accompanied the party on horseback
over Burgh Marsh, conducted us over the site of the station in his
grounds. The ground is uneven and ditches are distinct, as if build-
ings had been once upon it. Many years ago, a well 5 feet in diameter,
was discovered. The Wall ran through two fields belonging to Mr.
Lawson, which adjoin the station. On the east side the foundations
of the Wall were met with, when the Carlisle Canal was formed.
In another place, in digging the canal, a considerable quantity of
oak wood was found beneath the foundations, from part of which a
chair in the Library of the Antiquarian Society of Newcastle was
constructed.
The Solway is fordable when the tide is out, and in times gone
by, was the scene of incessant border robbery *. Mr. Lawson re
♦ Thirty or forty years ago, one of the most popular games among the village
boys, throughout Cumberland, was Scotch and English, which is correctly described
in Button's History of the Roman Wall. Two equally active boys divide, by lot
the village boys into two parts, to represent England and Scotland. A line is
54
lated the following. One Nicholas Rome Tordiflf had crossed the
water nineteen times to rob and plunder the English, when, growing
uneasy witli the remembrance of his past practices, he fully resolved,
after the twentieth time, to change his life. He came once more,
and was killed by Mrs. Lawson's grqjidfather. How frequently an
evil action is repeated 07ice too often.
Leland says, " Drumbuygh ys in the mydde way bytwyxt Bolness
and Burgh. The stones of the Picts Wall were pulled down to
build Drumbuygh, for the Wal is very nere it."
Axelodunum is the sixteenth station, ad lineam valli of the
Notitia, and Drumburgh is the sixteenth from the Walls-end, ergo
Axelodunum is Drumburgh. Hodgson states that " the only stone
that can with any appearance of accuracy be attributed to Drum-
burgh is that which Brand was presented with by the owner of the
house, in which it was built up, and the brief burden of which was
COH. VIII."— Vol. iii. Pt. 2, p. 225.
Drumburgh Castle is built wholly of stones from the Wall : one
or two Roman altars, which came from Old Carlisle, are built into
the garden wall. Between this place and Burgh, I believe not the
slightest vestige of the Wall is to be seen. It is uncertain whether it
crossed the Marsh or by the south side of it. Tradition and
probability favour the latter. No appearance of the Vallum has
been traced beyond this place. Kirkbride Water, approaching
within three miles, might render the Vallum in the Peninsula
superfluous. It is, however, only in "the flow of its tide," and in the
map, that the Solway appears formidable ; during the ebb it afibrds
no protection.
As the evening was advancing, the party now pushed on towards
Bowness. The Wall ran close by the south side of the New School
house, on the road side ; then along a fence parallel to the road,
where the ditch is very distinct ; the narrow field on the brow,
called Wallrigg, cannot be ploughed on account of the stones.
drawn on the green to denote tlie wall, and, at a convenient distance behind each
party, their respective hats, coats, and other property are deposited. Each party
then endeavours to steal and take the property of the other. If one is caught in the
enemy's ground, either with or without plunder, he is made a prisoner, and can be
released only by one of his own side. In this way all the men and property of one
party sometimes came into the possession of the other. The remembrance of
these border scenes has, however, worn away. Inquiring, lately, of a person in one
of these villages, if the boys played at Scotch and English yet — " Ah!" exclaimed
he, " I have not seen Scotch and EnrjUsh played these twenty years."
55
Approaching Bowness, the Wall forms the boundary hedge, at the
length of the fields next the road and shore. The ditch was formerly
the mill-race of the old Water-mill, and still forms the ancient
boundary between the parishes of Bowness and Burgh. Within
half a mile of Bowness this ditch is very deep, and alder trees are
growing at the bottom. In the field by its side were a very large
heap of stones, with the mortar attached to them, which a short time
before had formed the foundations of the Wall.
Seventeenth Station. GABROSENTIS. Bowness.
The station at Bowness, perhaps, more properly belongs to the
line of stations along the coast by Ellenborough and Moresby, with
which, if tradition speaks truly, it was connected by a military
road, than to the line of the Wall by Drumburgh and Burgh. Its
situation is elevated, but nothing now remains of it. A letter
from Sir John Clerk, dated 19th August, 1739, inserted in the
" History of Cumberland," gives the following description.
" The station at Boulness has been a large square, all fortified with
ditches, faced with square stones ; few ruins, except an old square
vault, remain. The Wall of Severus is very conspicuous here for a
mile or two, though sometimes levelled to the ground. Nothing
remains but the middle of the building, and indeed this appears, in
some places where I measured it, 8, 9, and 10 ft. high : the outside
and inside have been of squared stones. Thousands of cart loads
remain, and at times the quantity is visible in all the houses and
inclosures hereabouts. Nothing is to be seen half a mile from this
Wall, but small inclosures of two or three acres, fenced with these
stones. I believe the inside of the Wall is built irregularly for the
most part. The cement is a mixture of lime and small gravel, with
some shells beat together, and poured in with water from the top,
till the interstices were filled up. This way has been imitated by
myself and some modern builders with good effect, and never fails
to make strong walls."
When the Solway Hotel, at Port Carlisle, was built, a considerable
portion of the Wall that remained was, in the absence of the pro-
prietor, taken to furnish the materials. One immense mass of
concreted stones, gravel, shells, and lime, which resisted all the
efforts of separation, is lying on the spot, and will probably long
remain to point out at this place the course of the Wall. Over the
56
door of the above hotel is built up the fragment of an altar, con-
taining the commencement of an inscription —
MATRIBVS SVIS
the lower part being broken off. Mr. Hodgson says, " to my sketch
of it I have neither note nor history, excepting that the old clergy-
man of the place told the lazy young men who hung upon their
parents, that it meant, From your mothers, lads."
Over a stable door, belonging to Mr. Hodgson of Bowness, is
built up an altar found in a field, south east of the village, in
1739, bearing the following inscription very legible.
T.O.M.
PRO SALVTE
D.D N.N. GALLI
ET VOLVSIANI
AVGG. SVLPICIVS
SECVNDINVS
TRIE. CO
R. POSVIT.
Jovi optimo maximo pro salute Dominorum nostrorum Galli et
Volusiani Augustorum Sulpicius Secundinus tribunus cohortis
posuit.
To Jupiter the best and greatest. For the safety of our Lords,
Gallus and Volusianus Augustus, Sulpicius Secundinus, Tribune of
the Cohort, placed this.
Gallus and Volusianus were joint emperors, a.d. 251.
On such judgment as could be afforded by an incomplete exami-
nation of the country and the Roman ramparts, it would appear that
the term per lineam valli, in the Notitia, had a more extensive sig-
nification than is usually accepted, extending from Tynemouth to
Ellenborough, and including the cities scattered between the parallels
of Netherby and Bewcastle on the north, and of Moresby and
Plumpton on the south of Hadrian's Vallum. At the distance of
4 or 5 miles south of the middle point, between Old Carlisle
and Ellenborough, is Caer Mote ; an elevation upon high ground,
forming the commencement of the Cumberland mountain scenery.
Near which is a square encampment inclosed in a double fosse,
extending from east to west 120 paces, a description of which, by
Mr. West, may be seen in his " Guide to the Lakes;" and quoted
in Hutchinson's Cumberland, Vol. ii. p. 868. From Caer Mote
the following Roman stations may probably be seen : — Papcastle,
57
Moresby, Ellenborougb, Bowness, and the rest of the Solway Sta-
tions to Carlisle and Stan wicks, Old Carlisle, Castle Crag near
Keswick, within a few miles of the Roman station at Ambleside.
In this enumeration I omit Ireby, according to Camden and others,
the Arbeia of the Romans. "Whether these camps are the Arbeia,"
adds Mr. West, " I do not pretend to say ; but that they were of
use to the Romans is evident." These Roman stations, under the
government of the ' Duke of Britain,' were probably coeval with the
permanence of the Roman power in these parts, and communicated
■with each other by roads and intermediate forts, which time and
long cultivation have withdrawn from our sight*. The Roman forts
and stations at a considerable distance from the Wall are very
numerous in Cumberland, where the Scots and Picts most frequently
appeared. Had the Wall been built by Hadrian and Severus, the
Roman forces would scarcely have been strongly posted at the
Old Carlisle, situated eight miles from the nearest point of the
barrier, or at Moresby, Papcastle, Rose Castle, Plumpton and
Ellenborougb, all of which lie within scarcely greater distance. A
unity and similarity appear in the inscriptions written at Ellen-
borough and Housesteads, at Old Carlisle and Cilurnum. One
monument at Ellenborougb was raised in memory of Julia Mama-
tina, who lived twenty-one years and three months. A head
expresses the lady, and a setting sun the funeral subject. This
stone might have belonged to any of the stations we visited on the
east of Carlisle. And the following description of Ellenborougb,
given by Pennant, might serve very well for Borcovicus. " On a
* In the Oentlemans Magazine for 1755 are the following remarks relative to
two altars found at Old Carlisle ! " I send you the best drawing I could make of
two Roman altars, lately found by some workmen as they were digging for the
foundation of a ring-wall, against the common at Old Carlisle, about 200 yards east
of the station. The aggers, prsetorium, ditches, and roads belonging to this station
are still traced by their remains on this uncultivated common; and the Alee Aux-
iliarim appear, by many scattered ruins, to have been encamped eastward a long
way." — G. S.
What a fruitful, untrodden field would be occupied by a Cumberland Antiquarian
Society at Carlisle! There are probably more Roman antiquities preserved or un-
discovered in this county than elsewhere ; and a clear and connected history of the
jast British county has never appeared. Without support from Cumberland gentle-
men generally, and others connected with the county, however, such a society would
with difficulty subsist, even in a neighbourhood which has the honour of producing
Cumberland's greatest ornament. Possibly there may be no congenial feeling for
such studies, or any one to lament, with a Carlisle member of the Newcastle Society,
" That Time has turn'd coward, and no thee and me."
58
hill at the north end of the town (Maryport) are the remains of a
large Roman station, square, surrounded with double ditches, and
furnished with four entrances, commanding a view to Scotland, and
round the neighbouring country. Antiquaries differ about the
ancient name ; one styles it Olenacum, another, Virosidum, and
Camden, Volantium, from the wish inscribed on a beautiful altar
found here. It had been a considerable place, and had its military
roads leading from it to Moresby, to Old Carlisle, and towards
Ambleside ; and has been a perfect magazine of Roman antiquities."
Horsley mentions the inscriptions found at Ellenborough as follows :
— " I believe there is no one Roman Station in Britain where so
great a number of inscriptions have been found, as at Ellenborough ;
and most of the originals are yet preserved at Ellenborough Hall,
the seat of Humphrey Senhouse, Esq., who is the proprietor of the
ground on which the Roman station has been, and the worthy
descendant of John Senhouse, Esq., whom Camden commends "for
his great civility to Sir Robert Cotton and himself, for his skill in
antiquity, and for the great care with which he preserved such
curiosities." A Senhouse is still the proprietor and preserver of
these invaluable remains.
The Picts Wall, in the absence of demonstration, bears strong
evidence of being a later work, and the knowledge and testimony of
St. Gildas and Bede, who lived shortly after the Roman times, may
be more safely depended upon, as to the origin of the Wall, than the
theories which have arisen since.
On Sunday morning, 1st of July, the party attended Bowness
Church, and a sermon was preached by Mr. Brown, where they
were reminded that the pilgrimage just concluded, was but a portion
of the longer one to the " city with golden streets."
" No more the rising sun shall gild the morn.
Nor evening Cynthia fill her silver horn ;
But lost, dissolved in thy superior rays,
One tide of glory, one unclouded blaze
O'erflow thy courts : the Light himself shall shine
lleveal'd, and God's eternal day be thine! "
The Messiah.
On the following day, the Pilgrims turned their faces eastward,
and, still attended by the Rev. Mr. Brown and other gentlemen,
traced the Wall as they went in some parts, which the lateness of
the evening preceding had prevented. Reaching Carlisle about
noon, they started by the mid-day train for Hexham, where they
were met by the Rev. Joseph Huddlestone, vicar, and Mr. Joseph
Fairless, the Hexham antiquary. Accompanied by these two
valuable guides, they visited the venerable cathedral, its ciu-ious
crypt and Roman remains, with the old fortified towers of Hexham.
After dining at Haydon Bridge, they visited Langley Castle, and
Staward-le-Peel : on coming in view of the former fortress, they
were surprised to see its walls and base covered with a gaily dressed
throng. Tlie work-people of the smelt mills and other works in
the neighbourhood, desirous of joining the party and hearing Mr.
Bruce s explanatory observations, had risen that morning at four
o'clock to expedite their labour. These people, their wives and
children, had, by this time taken possession of the castle walls.
Mr. Bruce, loth to disappoint so laudable a desire, placed himself
in one of the old fire-places, and delivered an excellent extem-
pore address, in which he made allusions to the historical monu-
ments of the district, compared the past with the present, and
concluded by touching upon the principal features of the building.
The multitude expressed their approbation by three cheers.
Staward-le-Peel, and the rocky and picturesque dells beneath,
having been explored, the party returded to Haydon Bridge, where
they slept.
On Tuesday, 3rd of July, they were met at Dilston station, by
John Grey, Esq., of Dilston, who accompanied them to his resi-
dence, where he and Mrs. Grey had provided a sumptuous repast.
After dinner, Mr. Grey accompanied the party through the grounds
of his house, the castle and the chapel of the Derwentwaters, and
thence to the station of Corstopitum, near Corbridge, having pre-
viously viewed the foundations of the Roman bridge over the Tyne,
a little above the present structure. In the evening the party pro-
ceeded to Newcastle.
Throughout the Pilgrimage, the kindness and hospitality of the
occupiers of the Roman stations, as well as others along the route,
were indeed most cordial ; and Camden's learned commentator
would now extend a just observation on the gentry of Northumber-
land, and apply it to an adjoining county.
My readers will be pleased to see another and more vivid account
of the progress from Cilurnum to Vindolana, by a gentleman who
joined the party on the morning of the 27th of June.
51 Deij niitji tlje |»ilgrim0
ALONQ THE
lanmnti Wnll
(respectfully inscribed to JOHN COLLINGWOOD BRUCE, M.A., AND THE
ANTIQUARIES OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.)
Before the Glorious Dreamer lived,
And planned the work which cannot die,
Men had the Pilgrim's name received.
With various objects in their eye.
And many years before that time.
Smarting beneath a Tyrant's rod.
The Pilgrim Fathers sought a clime
"Where they might breathe, and worship God.
And he a Pilgrim traly is,
Who for Religion's honour'd sake,
Abandoning inglorious ease,
Doth any arduous journey take.
Be it to BoRCOVicus' site,
(Now Housesteads called, in country phrase)
Erewhile the scene of Mythric rite.
Upon its ruined walls to gaze.
Where ancient men, in mode obscene,
Their offerings and libations made.
Blind Pagans — they to Heaven's Queen,
Or to the Sun, their worship paid.
II.
A brave Enthusiast Band, I ween.
And famed for Antiquarian lore.
Was that, which we have lately seen
The famous Roman Wall explore.
But we may speak of what we know —
Brief travellers on the Pilgrims' road.
And leave to learned scribes, to show
The track where ancient men have trod,
From famed Walls-end, on Coaly Tyne,
To Solway Frith, where Bovi ness stands ;
Replete with Ruin — Altar — Shrine —
The Wall, the wonder of these lands —
CI
To tell how we set out to go
On Pilgrimage, one Summer's day ;
(How many willing. Heaven to know.
And gather flowrets by the way)
And then confess when night came on,
Were fain to measure home our track.
So, many a Pliable has gone,
Till Slough of Despond turned him back.
III.
But similies aside a Band,
Fired by the love of ancient lore.
From Hexham's fair and fruitful land
Set out, CiLUKNXJM to explore.
There, snug ensconced behind the Wall,
The Pilgrims from the East they found.
Refreshed in Clayton's generous Hall,
They slept as on enchanted ground.
They ranged the gardens, lawns, and paths.
The mansion and the woods admired —
But more than these, the Ancient Baths,
And relics rare, their fancy fired.
Now on to Carrowbrough they march,
(The Procolitia of yore,) »
And 'mid the ancient ruins search,
As miners search for golden ore ;
For here, their passion to provoke.
An Altar's base, inscribed, is found :
And smaller relics, at each stroke,
Stag's-horns — blades — Roman pots are found.
IV.
But who can paint the route sublime.
O'er crag and glen, through fen and fields —
The motley group that dive, and climb,
To Busy-gap, and Sewing- shields]
Another march — a halt — and now
On BoRcovicus' walls we stand.
Hail, splendid Ruin — famous thou —
Great Tadmor of our Native Land !
Yet here, within that murky cave.
The blood of bulls and men has flowed.
Whilst to the Sun, the Heathen gave
The homage due alone to God.
Here too, full oft, in later days,
Yet now remote, 'mid border wars.
Some hostile clan has scoured these ways.
Some bold Moss Trooper swept the scars.
63
But Bruce who heads our Troop to day,
A mild Invasion to confer,
Instructs his Pilgrims by the way —
Evangelist — Interpreter.
Wayfaring men have still their wants,
And Nature's carpet aye is spread ;
'Tis noon, — each weary Pilgrim pants
For cooling brook, and cheerful bread.
So down upon the grassy bank,
Where erst a Roman Kitchen steamed,
They sat, and thankful eat and drank,
Whilst open wallets viands teemed.
Where Pilgrims meet, 'tis common ground,
One Brotherhood they seem to be ;
No odious difference is found.
The Squire and Peasant one to me.
The' Priest — his vestments laid aside.
Can gaily chat, and blandly smile ;
Some one the Doctor's horse may ride.
And he shall trudge on foot the while.
Away the Travellers' waggons wend.
Mayor, Clerk, and Corporators here.
And there a modest Female Friend,
Like Mercy follows in the rear.
VI.
Alas ! that men should ever meet
In masses, only to destroy.
Who can express the rapture sweet
Which Philanthropic hearts enjoy ']
Our Caravan now gaily swells
With country girls, and peasantry,
Who nimbly trip the savage fells.
And cheer us with their pleasantry.
Each hill and vale, they give a name,
Or if one chance to fail, may hap
To give our journey greater fame,
We call that glen the Pilgrims' Gap,
Lo ! where the wild Northumbrian Lakes,
Amidst surrounding heath appear ;
Neglected beauties, for your sakes
This whole excursion were not dear.
How oft, in solemn solitude
Your waters gleam unseen by men,
Or only by the Herd Boy viewed.
From lofty crag, or bosky glen !
63
VII.
At length, as evening veils the scene,
To Vindolana's shades we come,
Where art with nature reigns serene,
Amid thy beauties, Chester Holme!
0, shade of Hedlet! 'midst these grots
Thy hands had decked in classic style.
Dwells now thy spirit, haunts these spots.
Could once thy happiest hours beguile 1
And, 0 ! relieved from mortal coil,
Canst thou not solve those mysteries now.
Which sagest Antiquaries foil,
As yet but Pilgrims here below ?
Perhaps, e'en now, thou musing walk'st
With Severus along the Wall —
Or else with Hadrian thou talk'st.
As at each Roman Post ye call.
And now with Hodgson, lately come,
Stukelt, and Warburton, ye stray —
Anon, from hills of Condercum
Ye beckon, Adamson away!
VIII.
A wail for heathen darkness past.
For Severus and Hadrian —
For ancient Rome — we stand aghast.
To think what man hath done to man.
No vallum, ditch, or wall we need.
No armed foe our housestead sees ;
For us no hecatomb doth bleed.
We shout the victories of Peace.
The Age of Chivalry is gone.
No hostile Legions here we see.
But greater Conquests ye have won,
Religion and Philanthropy.
Absence but makes our homes more dear.
As wanderers will sadly learn ;
For wives and little ones are there.
And fondly wait for their return.
On Beulah's mount the Pilgrims wait.
And view from far their happy home ;
The shining ones are at the gate —
We come, the Pilgrims cry, we come !
J. R.
Hexham, July 2nd, 1849.
APPENDIX.
ON THE ROMAN WALLS IN BRITAIN.
FROM THE ANGLO-SAXON WEITEES.
Peobably no evidence derived from the mediaeval ages as to
the authors and origin of the Eoman ramparts, can he considered
equal in vahie to the testimony of Giklas, who lived in the century
succeeding the departure of the Romans, and whom William of
Malmesbury in his Chronicle* calls the 'wisest of the Britons'; —
or of the venerable Bedef whose credit, it is no slight praise to say,
time has not diminished, and whose place of constant residence, a
century later, was favourable for inquiry into the origin of these
barriers. Yet the concurring testimony of other early writers, if
not all taken from the same source, is not a little remarkable,
and confirms the view we have taken in the history and de-
scription of the Wall. I am, however, not unwilling to concede,
that part of their knowledge was derived from tradition, con-
veyed, in the neighbourhood of the Wall, from father to son.
It will be acknowledged that greater force may be laid upon
this sort of evidence in proportion as other modes were want-
ing of conveying to posterity a knowledge of local events. In
the times to which we allude the art of printing was unknown,
and the art of writing was almost unknown, or confined to a
few persons in the monasteries ; and the occupations of the people
furnished in general no desire to quit a settled habitation |. The
* Chap. III., p. 67 T>r. Giles's Edition, London, 1847.
+ " Kemember the most noble teacher of our times, Bede, the priest ; what thirst
for learning he had in his youth, what praise he now has among men, and what
a far greater reward of glory with God." — Testimony of Alcuin ; "who was, of
all the Angles of whom I have read, next to St. Aldhelm and Bede, certainly the
most learned." — William of Alalmeshury, pp. 63, 66.
X To form some estimate of traditional evidence, I may mention the following,
related to me, in 1826, by an old man, the late Mr. Joseph Eailton, of Torpenhow, a
village in Cumberland, in whose youth all the inhabitants lived upon their own pro-
perty, tlie cottages being held under the Salkeldsof Whitehall, at the yearly tenure of
one day's shearing. He told me, he remembered having heard his father say, that he had
been informed by his father, that he \ine\v four ^iriors, all of them ancient men, who
lived at Priorhall, and performed duty at the churches of Bolton, Ireby, Torpen-
how, and Uldale. As Priorhall is not noticed in Hutchinson's History of Cumber-
land, I may remark, that these churches are situated near together, on the verge of
each parish, and at a convenient distance from that small hamlet. From the
register of the parish, the grandfather, above mentioned, appears to have been
05
character of the evidence which I am about to adduce on the Roman
earthen ramparts or walls, may to some appear traditionary. By
others who notice the agreement which exists in these chronicles,
and the absence of any apparent motive to deceive posterity, on
this subject at least, the accounts will be viewed as taken from
Bede and Gildas. In either case I leave the character of the
writers and the estimation in which they were held by their con-
temporaries, and by our early antiquaries, to speak for themselves.
As Gildas was the earlier of those writers, I shall give an extract
from what he has left us on the state of Britain when the Roman
forces were withdrawn.
Gildas*.
§ 14. After this, Britain is left deprived of all her soldiery and
armed bands, of her cruel governors, and of the flower of her youth,
who went with Maximusf, but never again returned ; and utterly
ignorant as she was of the art of war, groaned in amazement for
many years under the cruelty of two foreign nations — the Scots
from the north-west, and the Picts from the north.
§ 15. The Britons, impatient at the assaults of the Scots and
Picts, their hostilities and dreadful oppressions, send ambassadors
to Rome with letters, entreating in piteous terms the assistance of
an armed band to protect them, and offering loyal and ready sub-
mission to the authority of Rome, if they only would expel their
invading foes. A legion is immediately sent, forgetting their past
rebellion, and provided sufficiently with arms. When they had
crossed over the sea, and landed, they came at once to close con-
flict with their cruel enemies, and slew great numbers of them.
All of them were driven beyond the borders, and the humiliated
natives rescued from the bloody slavery which awaited them. By
the ad\ace of their protectors, they now built a wall across the
island from one sea to the other, which, being manned with a proper
force, might be a terror to the foes whom it was intended to repel,
and a protection to their friends whom it covered. But this Wall,
being made of turf instead of stone, was of no use to that foolish
people, who had no head to guide them.
§ 16. The Roman legion had no sooner returned in joy and
married in 1709, and the following year to have lived at Parkhouse, a farm adjoin-
ing to Priorhall. My friend, the Rev. Joseph Thexton, of Torpenhow, informs me,
that " there is little doubt of a priory having been there, as its name indicates ; and
the parish churches all verging towards that spot, tends to strengthen this opinion."
* Gildas flourished A. d. 546.
t A.D. 387.
F 2
66
triumpli, than their former foes, like hungry and ravening wolves,
rushing with greedy jaws upon the fold which is left without a
shepherd, and wafted both by the strength of oarsmen and the
blowing wind, break through the boundaries and spread slaughter
on every side, and, like mowers cutting down the ripe corn, they
cut up, tread under foot, and overrun the whole country.
§ 17. And now again they send suppliant ambassadors, with their
garments rent and their heads covered with ashes, imploring as-
sistance from the Romans; and like timorous cluckens crowding
under the protecting wings of their parents, that their wretched
country might not altogether be destroyed, and that the Roman
name, which now was but an empty sound to fill the ear, might
not become a reproach even to distant nations. Upon this the
Romans, moved with compassion, as far as human nature can be,
at the relations of such horrors, send forward, like eagles in their
flight, their unexpected bands of cavalry by land, and mariners by
sea; and, planting their terrible swords upon the shoulders of their
enemies, they mow them down like leaves which fall at the destined
period ; and as a mountain-torrent swelled with numerous streams,
and bursting its banks with roaring noise, with foaming crest, and
yeasty wave rising to the stars, by whose eddying currents our eyes
are as it were dazzled, does with one of its billows overwhelm every
obstacle in its way, so did our illustrious defenders vigorously drive
our enemies' band beyond the sea, if any could so escape them ; for
it was beyond those same seas that they transported, year after
year, the plunder which they had gained, no one daring to resist
them.
§ J 8. The Romans, therefore, left the country, giving notice
that they could no longer be harassed by such laborious expedi-
tions, nor suffer the Roman standards with so large and brave an
army to be worn out by sea and land by fighting against these
unwarlike, plundering vagabonds ; but that the islanders, inuring
themselves to warlike weapons, and bravely fighting, should va-
liantly protect their country, their property, wives and children;
and, what is dearer than these, their liberty and lives; and that
they should not suffer their hands to be tied behind their backs by
a nation, which, unless they were enervated by idleness and sloth,
was not more powerful than themselves, but that they should arm
those hands with buckler, sword, and spear, ready for the field of
battle; and, because they thought this also of advantage to the
people they were about to leave, they, with the help of the
miserable natives, built a Wall di^"'^'-"^ ^ro-^ th- f--mer by pub-
G7
lie and private contributions, and of the same stnicture as walls
generalljs extending in a straight line from sea to sea, between
some cities, which from fear of their enemies had there by chance
been built. They then give energetic counsel to the timorous
natives, and leave them patterns by which to manufacture arms.
Moreover, on the south coast, where their vessels lay, as there was
some apprehension lest the barbarians might laud, they erected
towers at stated intervals, commanding a prospect of the sea, and
then left the island never to return.
Ethelwerd's Chronicle.
Ethelwerd* was a noble Saxon, great-great-grandson of King Ethelred, brother of
Alfred. William of Malmesbury calls him " noble and illustrious," and infonns us
that he translated the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle into Latin. According to Dr. Ingram,
Ethelwerd's peculiar praise was " that of being the only Latin historian for two
centuries ; though, like Xenophon, Caesar, and Alfred, he wielded the sword as
much as the pen."
Kome was destroyed by the Goths in the eleven hundred and
forty-sixth year after it was built. From that time the Roman
authority ceased in the island of Britain, and in many other
countries which they had held under the yoke of slavery. For it
was now four hundred and eighty-five years, beginning with Caius
Julius Csesar, that they had held the island above mentioned,
wherein they had built cities and castles, bridges and streets of
admirable construction, which are seen among us even to the present
day. But whilst the people of Britain were living carelessly within
the wall, which had been built by Sevems to protect them, there
arose two nations, the Picts in the north, and the Scots in the west,
and leading an army against them, devastated their countiy, and
inflicted many sufferings upon them for many years. The Britons,
being unable to bear their misery, by a wise de\dce, send to Rome a
mournful letter f the army returned victorious to Rome.
But the Scots and Picts, hearing that the hostile army was gone,
rejoiced with no little joy. Again they take up arms, and like
wolves attack the sheepfold which is left without a protector : they
devastate the northern districts as far as the ditch of Severus :
the Britons man the wall and fortify it with their arms; but
fortune denies them success in the war. The cunning Scots,
knowing what to do against the higli wall and the deep trench,
contrive iron goads with mechanical art, and dragging down those
* Ethelwerd flourished about the close of the tenth century,
f There is evidently a hiatus in this passage ; but see Bede, Vol. L Cb. xiii. p.
22. Dr. Giles's Six Old English Chronicles, p. 3, note.
68
who were standing on the wall, slay them without mercy : they
remain victors both within and without ; they at once plunder and
take possession ; and a slaughter is made worse than all that had
been before. Thus ended the four hundred and forty-fourth year
since the incarnation of our Lord.
Herodian relates that Severus, in his march northwards, passed the rivers and
earthworks, which he calls a vast ditch : and Dio mentions the great wall near the
Meatce which separates the island into two parts. If the expression " living carelessly
within the wall" refers to the lands which were given by the Emperor M. Aurelius
Alexander Severus to the Britons, and extending to the bounds of the empire, near
Bodotria iEstuarium, Ethelwerd's relation coincides, in the main, with the narra-
tives of Gildas and Bede, to whom, and to the Saxon Chronicle especially, Ethelwerd
was certainly greatly indebted.
Nennius*.
The Rev. W. Gunn, in 1819, published the Latin original, with a translation,
under the following title — " The ' Historia Britonum,' commonly attributed to
Nennius ; from a Manuscript lately discovered in the Library of the Vatican Palace
at Rome ; edited, in the tenth century, by Mark the Hermit. With an English
version, fac-simile of the original, notes and illustrations."
§ 23. Severus was the third emperor who passed the sea to
Britain, where, to protect the provinces recovered from barbaric
incursions, he ordered a wall and a rampart to be made between the
Britons, the Scots, and the Picts, extending across the island from
sea to sea, in length one hundred and thirty-three miles f : and it is
called in the British language, Gwal];. Moi'eover, he ordered it to
be made between the Britons and the Picts and Scots ; for the Scots
from the west, and the Picts from the north, unanimously made war
against the Britons ; but were at peace among themselves. Not long
after, Severus dies in Britain.
That this "Wall refers to the rampart in Scotland, marked in the maps, " Vallum
Antonini," appears from what follows in Nennius.
§ 38. Hengist, after this, said to Vortigern, " I will be to you
both a father and an adviser; despise not my counsels, and you
* Some assign a.d. 796, others a.d. 994, as the epoch of Nennius.
t V. R. Thirty-two.
\ Or the Wall. One MS. here adds: " The above-mentioned Severus constructed
it of rude workmanship, in length 132 miles; i. e., from Penguaul, which village is
called, in Scottish, Cenail, and in English, Peneltun, to the mouth of the river
Cluth and Cairpentaloch, where this wall terminates ; but it was of no avail. The
Emperor Carausius afterwards rebuilt it, and fortified it with seven castles between
the two mouths : he built also a round house, of polished stones, on the banks of
the river Carun (Carron); he likewise erected a triumphal arch, on which he in-
scribed his own name, in memory of his victory."
69
shall have no reason to fear being conquered by any man or any
nation whatever ; for the people of my country are strong, warlike,
and robust : if you approve I will send for my son and his brother,
both valiant men, who, at my invitation, will fight against the Scots,
and you can give them the countries in the north, near the wall
called Gival. The incautious sovereign having assented to this,
Octa and Ebusa arrived with forty ships. In these they sailed
round the country of the Picts, laid waste the Orkneys, and took
possession of many regions, even to the Pictish confines.
William of Malmesbury's Cheonicle.
" William of Malmesburj-," * according to Archbisliop Usher, " is the chief of
our historians j" Leiand records him "as an elegant, learned, and faithful his-
torian;" and Sir Henry Saville is of opinion that he is the only man of his
time who has discharged his trust as an historian. — Preface to Dr. Giles's Edi-
tion, 1847.
In the year of the incarnation of our I^ord, 449, Angles and
Saxons first came into Britain ; and although the cause of their
arrival is universally known, it may not be improper here to subjoin
it : and, that the design of my work may be the more manifest, to
begin even from an earlier period. That Britain, compelled by Julius
Caesar to submit to the Eoman power, was held in high estimation
by that people, may be collected from their history, and be seen
also in the ruins of their ancient buildings. Even their emperors,
sovereigns of almost all the world, eagerly embraced opportunities
of sailing hither, and of spending their days here. Finally, Severus
and Constantius, two of their greatest princes, died upon the island,
and were there interred with the utmost pomp. The former, to
defend this province from the incursions of the barbarians, built his
celebrated and well known wall from sea to sea. The latter, a man,
as they report, of courteous manners, left Constantino, his son by
Helena, a tender of cattle, a youth of great promise, his heir.
Constantine, greeted emperor by the army, led away, in an expe-
dition destined to the continent, a numerous force of British
soldiers ; by whose exertions, the war succeeding to his wishes, he
gained in a short time the summit of power. For these veterans,
when their toil was over, he founded a colony on the western coast
of Gaul, where to this day, their descendants, somewhat degenerate
in language and manners from our own Britons, remain with
wonderful increase.
In succeeding times, in this island, Maximus, a man well fitted
* William of Malmesbury was born about a.d. 1095, died a.d. 1143.
70
for command, had he not aspired to power in defiance of his oath,
assumed the purple, as though compelled hy the army, and pre-
paring immediately to pass over into Gaul, he despoiled the pro-
vince of almost all its military force. Not long after, also, one
Constantino, who had been elected emperor on account of his name,
drained its whole remaining warlike strength ; hut both being slain,
the one by Theodosius, the other by Honorius, tliey became ex-
amples of the instability of human greatness. Of the forces which
had followed them, part shared the fate of their leaders; the rest,
after their defeat, fled to the continental Britons. Thus when the
tyrants had left none but half-savages in the country, and in the towns
those only who were given up to luxury, Britain, despoiled of the
support of its youthful * population, and bei'eft of every useful art, was
for a long time exposed to the ambition of neighbouring nations.
For immediately, by an excursion of the Scots and Picts, numbers
of the people were slain, villages burnt, towns destroyed, and every
thing laid waste by fire and sword. Part of the harassed islanders,
who thought anything more advisable than contending in battle, fled
for safety to the mountains ; others, burying their treasures in the
earth, many of which are dug up in our own times, proceeded to
Piome to ask assistance. The Piomans, touched with J)ity, and
deeming it above all things important to yield succour to their
oppressed allies, twice lent their aid, and defeated the enemy. But
at length, wearied with the distant voyage, they declined returning
in future ; bidding them rather themselves not degenerate fi'om
the martial energy of their ancestors, but learn to defend their
country with spirit and with arms. They accompanied their advice
with the plan of a wall, to be built for their defence ; the mode of
keeping watch on the ramparts ; of sallying out against the enemy,
should it be necessary, together with other duties of military dis-
cipline+. After giving these admonitions, they departed, accom-
panied by the tears of the miserable inhabitants ; and Fortune,
smiling on their departure, restored them to their friends and
country. The Scots, learning the improbability of their return,
immediately began to make fresh and more frequent irruptions
against the Britons ; to level their wall, to kill the few opponents
they met with, and to carry off considerable booty; while such as
escaped fled to the royal residence, imploring the protection of their
sovereign.
* Some MSS. res-di juvenilis, others militaris.
-f- The castra appear to have been constructed after the wall was built. At Oaw-
fields, the west and east sides of the Mile Castle are not tied or built into the great
wall, although this forms the north side of the building.
71
Geoffrey of Monmouth *.
" The work on which the fame of Geoffrey, sumamed Monmouth, principally
rests, is the ' Historia Eritonum,' dedicated to Robert, Duke of Gloucester, who died
in lU7."—nr. Giles, edit. 1847.
Book VI. Ch. I. But Gratian Municepsf, hearing of the death of
Maximian \, seized the crown, and made himself king. After this he
exercised such tyranny that the common people fell upon him in a tu-
multuous manner, and murdered him. When this news reached
other countries, their former enemies returned back from Ireland,
and bringing with them the Scots, Norwegians, and Dacians, made
dreadful devastations with fire and sword, over the whole Idngdom,
from sea to sea. Upon this most grievous calamity and oppression,
ambassadors are dispatched with letters to Rome, to beseech, with
tears and vows of perpetual subjection, that a body of men might be
sent to revenge their injuries, and drive out the enemy from them.
The ambassadors, in a short time, prevailed so far, that, unmindful
of past injuries, the Romans granted them one legion, which was
transported in a fleet to their country, and there speedily en-
countered the enemy. At last, after the slaughter of a vast
multitude of them, they drove them entirely out of the country, and
rescued the miserable people from their outrageous cruelty. Then
they gave orders for a Wall to be built between Albania and Deira,
from one sea to the other, for a terror to the enemy, and safeguard
to the country. At that time, Albania was wholly laid waste, by
the frequent invasions of barbarous nations ; and whatever enemies
made an attempt upon the country, met with a convenient landing-
place there. So that the inhabitants were diligent in working upon
the Wall, which they finished partly at the public, partly upon private
charge.
Chapter II. The Romans after this declared to the Britons,
that they should not be able for the future to undergo the fatigue of
such laborious expeditions ; and that it was beneath the dignity of
the Roman state to harass so great and brave an army, both by land
and sea, against base and vagabond robbers ; but that they ought to
apply themselves to the use of arms, and to fight bravely in defend-
ing, to the utmost of their power, their country, riches, wives,
children, and, what is dearer than all these, their liberty and lives.
As soon as they had given them this exhortation, they commanded
* Raised to the bishopric of St. Asaph in 1152.
f This Gratian was called Municeps, because he was a citizen of Britain.
J Maximus was besieged in Aquileia, and, the gates being burst open, he was
dragged into the presence of Theodosius and beheaded, a.d. 388.
72
all the men of the island that were fit for war to appear together at
London, because the Eomaus were about to return home. When,
therefore, they were all assembled, Guethelin, the metropolitan of
London, had orders to make a speech to them, which he did in
these words : —
" Though I am appointed by the princes here present to speak to
you, I find myself rather ready to burst into tears than to make
an eloquent oration. It is a most sensible affliction to me to ob-
serve the weak and destitute state into which you are fallen since
Maximian drew away with him all the forces and youth of this
kingdom." . . . The remainder of the speech holds out no hopes of
further assistance from the Romans, but encourages them to handle
their arms against a band of robbers, &c.
Notwithstanding tte fabulous character of some parts of his book, I have taken
the above extract from Geoffrey of Monmouth, since his account of the wall is bounded
on both sides by adjoining historical truth, and is itself in accordance with the picture
of the same period drawn by other writers.
RICHARD OF CIRENCESTER*
ON THE ANCIENT STATE OF BRITAIN.
According to Gibbon, Richard of Cirencester shows a genuine knowledge of an-
tiquity very extraordinary for a monk of the fourteenth century. — Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire, Vol. V. p. 365, note.
Book II. Chap. I.
XXI. A. M. 4080. Agricola after a severe engagement subdued
Galgacus, king of the Caledonians. He ordered all the island to be
examined by a fleet, and, having sailed round its coasts, added the
Orcades to the Roman empire.
XXII. 4120. The Emperor Hadrian himself came into the
island, and separated one part of it from the other by an im-
mense wall.
XXIII. 4140. Urbicus being sent hither by Antoninus Pius,
distinguished himself by his victories.
XXIV. 4150. Am-elius Antoninus also obtained victories over
some of the Britons.
XXVI. 4170. The Romans were driven from the Vespasian
province. About this time it is supposed that King Reuda came
with his people, the Picts, from the islands into Britain.
XXVII. 4207. The Emperor Sevems, passing over into Bri-
* A monk at Westminster, from A.D. 1350 to a.d. 1402.
78
tain, repaired the wall built by the Romans, which had been
ruined, and died not long after by the visitation of God at York.
XXVIII. 4211. Bassianus (Caracalla) obtained a venal peace
from the Mseatae.
XXIX. 4220. During these times the Roman armies confined
themselves within the wall, and all the island enjoyed profound
peace.
XXXV. Theodosius slew Maximus, the tyrant, three miles from
Aquileia. Maximus having nearly drained Britain of all its war-
like youth, who followed the footsteps of his tyranny over Gaul, the
fierce transmarine nations of the Scots from the south, and the
Picts from the north, perceiving the island without soldiers and
defenceless, oppressed it, and laid it waste during a long series of
years.
XXXVI. 4396. The Britons, indignantly submitting to the at-
tacks of the Scots and Picts, sent to Rome, made an offer of sub-
mission, and requested assistance against their enemies. A legion
being accordingly despatched to their assistance, slew a great mul-
titude of the barbarians, and drove the remainder beyond the con-
fines of Britain. The legion upon its departure homewards advised
its allies to constnict a Wall between the two estuaries, to restrain
the enemy. A wall was accordingly made, in an unskilful manner,
■with a greater proportion of turf than stone, which was of no ad-
vantage ; for on the departure of the Romans the former enemies
returned in ships, slew, trampled on, and devoured all things before
them like a ripened harvest.
XXXVII. 4400. Assistance being again entreated, the Romans
came, and with the aid of the Britons drove the enemy beyond the
sea, and built a Wall from sea to sea, not as before with earth, but
with solid stone, between the fortresses erected in that part, to
curb the enemy. On the southern coast, where an invasion of the
Saxons was apprehended, he erected watch towers. This was the
work of Stilicho, as appears from Claudian.
Without attempting to reconcile with nicety the accounts of these
early writers, there is sufficient agreement among them to infer that
the Stone or Picts Wall is not the wall of Severus or of Hadrian.
When a Roman legion could inflict such terror and consternation
upon the enemy who are described as unwarlike plunderers, the
Roman soldiers, occupying the real defences of the country, —
the fortified towns, could never have been induced to undergo the
74
fatigue of building a stone and mortar wall seventy miles in length,
eight feet in thickness, and twelve feet high. And perhaps the
most surprising circumstance connected with the design of this
famous wall will still remain unexplained, — that it should have
been thought necessary to construct it for the space of ten miles
on the brink of those whinstone crag precipices, which stretch
from Shewingshields to Caervorran. The expense of erecting
such a wall at the present time, with only the means possessed by
the Romans, would be upwards of three millions sterling, as an
eminent engineer informs me ; and to man the castella upon it
would require the constant occupation of two legions. Does history
teach us that Roman ambition was wont to sit quietly down and rest
satisfied with a limit to Roman desire of conquest ? Was the empire,
which extended to the Clyde and the Forth, voluntarily contracted by
Severus to the limit of the Tyne and the Eden ? And if, against all
experience of Roman policy, we suppose the conquests of Antoninus
Pius, and of Severus himself, to be abandoned, would the Roman
legions, strongly posted in the fortified cities, which formed impreg-
nable redoubts to the rampart and fosse already constructed, have con-
sidered it consistent with the glory and honour of the Roman name to
manifest their fear of a despised enemy by building such a wall ?
It may not be unreasonable to suppose the words, ' they built a
wall across the island,' used by the ancient writers, may sometimes
express the restoring and completing of an earthen rampart fallen
to decay. Indeed a defence of this description, when repaired and
greatly strengthened, would to all appearance be a new work, and
might with propriety be described as a new wall. In this view it
would not be difficult to reconcile the conflicting statements of these
writers, who must often have recorded events from traditional tes-
timony, when the only historians were the clergy, and such even
esteemed it inconsistent with their sacred office to engage in such
profane labours *.
Other considerations lead to a decision against the claim of
Roman patience in building such a wall at the period of scarcely
interrupted conquest, and when the invasion of Severus is considered
to be " connected with the most shining period of British history or
fable. "f Gibbon relates that " across the narrow interval of about
forty miles, Agricola had drawn a line of military stations, which
was afterwards fortified, in the reign of Antoninus Pius, by a turf
rampart erected on foundations of stone. This wall of Antoninus,
* Richard of Cirencester, Chap. VII.
t Decline of the Roman Empire, Vol. I. Chap. VI. p. 209, Edit. 1815.
75
at a small distance beyond the modem cities of Edinburgh and
Glasgow, was fixed as the limit of the Roman province,"*, which,
he afterwards adds, comprehended " all the lowlands of Scotland,
as far as the firths of Dunbarton and Edinburgh."! Without as-
suming the entire subjection of the lowlands to the Roman sway,
the usual views of conquerors are not generally towards the erection
of such a defence one hundred miles in the rear of the site of their
splendid victories. One of the preceding wiiters speaks of " the un-
conquerable Severus, who, having rapidly put the enemy to flight, re-
paired the wall of Hadrian, now become ruinous I, and restored it to
its -former perfection. Had he lived he intended to extirpate the very
name of the barbarians, but he died by the visitation of God among
the Brigantes, in the city of Eboracum."§ — Fdcli. of Cirenc, Chap.
II. art. 23.
On a review of the best evidence as to the position of the military
defences contained in the Latin authors, were it not presumptuous,
candour would incline us to place the Wall of Severus or Guall-
Severiin Scotland ; to which Dio refers when he says, " the Meatce
dwell near the great Wall that separates the island into two parts,
the Cahdonians ]i\e hejond them."|{ Victor, Eutropius, Orosius
and others, speak of the conquests of Severus, and relate that, for the
purpose of securing them, he built a wall or rampart from sea to sea.
As to Victor making the length of the wall xxxii miles, Eutropius
XXXV, Cassiodorus and Orosius cxxxii, Camden fancies with reason
that this difference has arisen from a corruption in the numerals. As
the last estimate is nearly double that of the distance betw-een Tyne-
mouth and Bowness, and the omission of the c would reconcile the
measure with the others, and with the true interval between the
Firth of Forth and the Clyde, it is reasonable to suppose the more
northern wall is referred to by these writers. That Severus restored
or completed Hadrian's Vallum, most authors are agreed ; and
his claim to the rampart between the Scottish Firths may, perhaps,
be no precarious postulate. The formation of a rampai't of earth
by the soldiers of Severus is certainly more agreeable to the impe-
tuosity of his character and the circumstances of his reign in Britain,
than the construction of a wall of hewn masonry, for the space of
* Decline of the Roman Empire, Ch. I. p. 7. t Ibid. p. 33.
^ Probabh' through neglect.
§ The resentment of Severus would doubtless have been greatly moderated on the
completion of such a work as the Picts Wall, if not during its progress.
ll According to Tacitus, the country of the Caledonians began from this wall ; the
Meatre must therefore have lain to the south of the Firths, and occupied part of the
lowlands.
76
seventy miles. The accurate geographer D'Anville doubtless con-
sidered the question in the same light. He says, " Under the reign
of Domitian, the Roman armies, commanded by Agricola, penetrated
even to Caledonia ; that is to say, into the centre of Scotland. The
difficulty of maintaining this distant frontier against the assaults of
the unconquered people, determined Adrian to contract the limits
of the Roman province in Britain, and separate it from the barbarous
country, by a rampart of eighty miles in length, from the bottom of
the gulf now called Sol way Firth, to Tinmouth, which is the entrance
of a river on the eastern side of the island. Severus extended these
limits by constructing another rampart of thirty-two miles in the
narrowest part of the island, between Glota or the river Clyde, and
the bottom of Bodotria, or the gulf near which the city of Edinburgh
stands. Though we have not in Roman Britain well-defined limits
between the several provinces as in Gaul, we perceive a distinction
between Superior and Inferior; and the position of some cities
ascribed to the higher Britain, indicates this to have been on the
western shore. The multiplication of provinces which prevailed
throughout the empire, furnished a Britannia Prima and Secunda;
and the situation of the first colonies after the commencement of
the conquest, should establish the first Britain on the east. Two
other provinces, Flavia Ccesariensis and Maxima Cccsariensis, appear
by the name of Flavia to have been called after the family of Con-
stantino, and the surname of Ccesariensis would refer to Constantino
Chlorus, who, it is well known, commanded in Britain with the title
of Caesar. But we are not informed of the extent and limits of these
provinces. Somewhat later in the order of time another province
is observed under the name of Valentia *, supposed to have been
the nearest to the rampart of Severus." — Anc. Geog. Vol. I. pp.
88, 89.
In the Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester, we find a list of
stations along the Ermyn and Watling Streets from Lincoln to
the Wall in Scotland. In crossing the barriers near Hunnum, the
point of juncture is described ad Murum. In Antoninus and in
the Notitia, Hunnum is mentioned as ad Vallum.
" Iter iv. A Lindo ad Vallum usque, sic : Argolico m.p. xiiii
Dane xx. Ibi intras Maximam CsBsariensem, Legotio, m.p. xvi.
Eboraco municip. olim colonia sexta, m.p. xxi. Isurio xvi. Cat-
taractoni xxiii. ad Tisam x. Vinovio xii. Epiaco xviiii. ad Murum
* " Valentia occupies the whole space between the Wall or rampart built by the
Emperor Hadrian to that built by the Emperor Antoninus Pius, from the estuary
Bdora to that of the Clydda." — Ricluird of Cirencester, Chap. VI.
77
viiii. trans Mumm intras Valentiara. Alauna * amnc ru.p. xxv.
Tueda f flumine xxx. ad Vallum."
Horsley, the learned author of the Britannia Komana, who was
bom and educated, and spent his life, in the district through which
the Picts Wall passes, was decidedly of opinion that the vallum and
the wall were constructed by the Emperors Hadrian and Septimus
Severus — that is, between a. d. 151 and a, d. 211. He acknow-
ledges indeed, " it was the opinion of some ingenious persons that
both the walls were the work of the same time, and the same per-
son ; and that the one is only an inner vallum or fosse to the other. "|
But, after considering this view, he declares that he could " see no
circumstances in the two works, arguing them to be done at the
same time, or to have any necessary relation to each other," § and the
reasons which he gives have been generally considered satisfactory.
The accomplished and elegant historian of Northumberland,
equally favoured by study and long residence in the neighbourhood
of the wall, has revived this theory, but attributes all the works —
the stations, wall, and vallum — to Hadrian. He observes that " Se-
verus was too much occupied with a skirmishing and desultory war-
fare to have any leisure to construct new fortifications." As to the
unity of the works, he says, " The sites of the stations have been
plainly selected in reference to the defence which they and the road
between them should receive from the vallum and the murus ; and
as if from the first it had been intended to be the great feature and
main member of the whole, the murus, through the whole line, takes
its position on the most commanding ground, on the brows of ridges,
overlooking the country on the enemy's side, to the north ; while
the vallum, as the weaker work, and designed only to protect the
garrisons in their stations or marches against revolts or predatory
attacks of an allied population, or from mixing with the people, is
of frailer materials, and often on a less defensible line than the
murus." II
The innumerable inscriptions recorded on altars and other stones
found at the stations, throw no light on the origin or puqiose of the
wall, which must account for the necessity of the preceding mere
hypothesis. During the Roman sway, the stations doubtless formed
the permanent defence against the incursions of the barbarians, and
whilst these were garrisoned by the Roman army, the enemy pro-
bably never advanced within sight of Hadrian's wall or rampart.
* River Coquet. "f" River Tweed.
t Brit. Rom. p. 124. § Ibid. p. 124.
II Hodgson's Hist, of North. Vol. III. Pt. 2, pp. 277, 278.
78
But leaving the positiou of Severus's ' celebrated and well-known
wall from sea to sea,' in the words of Malmesbury, to be yet settled,
we may observe, that whoever considers with attention the defenceless
state of Britain on the abandonment of the province by the Romans,
and the consternation spread throughout the kingdom on hearing they
would return no more to their assistance, will be inclined to consider
the erection of the Picts Wall as a work suited to the defence of a
people, whose youth and warriors were absent, and where a small
number extended along the ramparts, if their hearts had sustained
them, would have supplied the place of the Roman cohorts stationed
in the cities. As the whole of the inhabitants of southern Britain
bad an interest in this defence, the building of the wall admitted
of no delay, and doubtless distant bodies of the Britons would give
their aid and assistance. We need not be surprised that even the
Dumnonii * should have taken that portion which formed the weak-
est part of the line, according to the inscription on a stone found in
the wall between Thirlwall and Caervorran. Those persons were
probably convej^ed in Roman vessels from the Bristol Channel,
along the shore of their friends, to the Solway coast.
The contribution for " watch and ward upon the wall," which, to
a comparatively late period, was so heavy upon the villages of the
border counties, was a substitution for the harassing personal ser-
vice of watching and guarding the wall, before this duty was trans-
ferred to the castles. Although no longer a complete defence, the
wall was probably a considerable barrier pre^dous to the middle of
the fifteenth century, when numerous beacons, erected about that
time over the country, proclaimed the necessity of alarming, in
times of danger, a greater breadth of country. The bands of
husbandmen and artisans, left by the Romans in charge of the wall,
were speedily driven from their posts, and the country in conse-
quence suffered severely, but the youth of the next generation were
taught in the school of adversity, and very soon overthrew their
enemies t. And the stone barrier, though probably pernicious
in keeping up the spirit of hostility among the borderers, might,
in another respect, be serviceable ; and, for centuries afterwards,
would impede the motions of plunderers on both sides of the wall.
* What remains of the southern part of Britain, and which is contracted by the
sea and the Sabrina JEstvArium, belonged to the Dumnonii. Their city, called
Isca, on a river of the same name, retains its denomination in that of Exeter, or
Exchester. — D'Anvilles Anc. Gtog., Vol. I. p. 91.
Devon-sh., Den-sh. or Dens, Anc. Damnonii or Dumnonii. — Gibson's Etymol.
Geog. p. 156.
t Epistle of Gildas, art. 20.
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS.
The Right Honourable The Earl op Carlisle.
The Eight Honourable Fox Maule, M.P.
Henry Aggs, Esq., Tottenham.
George Alexander, Esq., Ipswich.
Frederick Ale.Tander, Esq., Ipswich.
James Ashby, Esq., London.
Ambrose Basset, Esq., Stamford Hill.
James Bell, Esq., London, 4 copies.
Francis Bennoch, Esq., London, 3 copies.
Robert Benson, Esq., London, 3 copies.
William Benson, Esq., London, 3 copies.
Samuel Betteley, Esq., Tottenham, 5
copies.
Henry Gurney Birkbeck, Esq., Norwich,
3 copies.
William Blamire, Esq., London, 2 copies.
Edward Bond, Esq., Stoke Newington.
John Bragg, Esq., London.
Isaac Braithwaite, Esq., London, 6 copies.
John Burgess, Esq., Stoke Newington.
John Burn, Esq., Sackville Street, London.
Thomas Calvert, Esq., London, 2 copies.
Douglas Campbell, Esq., Edinburgh.
Barclay Clibbom, Esq., Cloninel, Ireland,
2 copies.
Theodore Compton, Esq., London, 5 copies.
Joseph Cooper, Esq., Stoke Newington.
Sampson Copestake, Esq., London.
John Copling, jun., Esq., London, 5 copies.
Thomas Dixon, Esq., Islington, Middle-
sex.
William Dockar, Esq., London, 5 copies.
John Drewett, Esq., London, 3 copies.
Felix Duville, Esq., Islington.
Henry Duville, Esq., London.
Thomas T. Fawcett, Esq., London.
W. R. Findlay, Esq., Glasgow, 5 copies.
Edward Ford, Esq., Enfield Old Park,
Middlese.x, 3 copies.
John Porter Foster, Esq., London, 10
copies.
Thomas Foster, Esq., London, 2 copies.
Thomas Fowler, Esq., Tottenham, 3
copies.
George Stacey Gibson, Esq., Saffron Wal-
den, 3 copies.
James Gingell, Esq., London, 3 copies.
Henry Grainger, Esq., The Grainge, Ireby,
Cumberland, 3 copies.
Donald Gray, Esq., Stoke Newington.
John Henry Gurney Esq., Norwich, 3
copies.
Samuel Gurney, jun., Esq., London, 3
copies.
Henry Edmund Qurnej', Esq., London, 3
copies.
Thomas Hancock, Esq., Stoke New-
ington, 2 copies.
George Harker, Esq., London, 6 copies.
Captain Harness, R.E., Whitehall, Lon-
don, 2 copies.
Edward Harris, Esq., Stoke Newington, 2
copies.
John Tindall Harris, Esq., London.
Alfred Harris, jun., Esq., Bradford,
Yorkshire, 3 copies.
Charles Harrison, Esq., Sackville Street,
London.
Harrison, Esq., London.
Joseph Hayton, Gerrard House, Wigton,
Cumberland, 2 copies.
George Head Head, Esq., Rickerby House,
Carlisle, 6 copies.
Thomas Edward Heath, Esq., Bristol, 6
copies.
Alfred J. Janson, Esq., Stoke Newington.
William Henry Leatham, Esq., Wakefield.
Edmund Lucas, Esq., Wandsworth.
L. S. Lj'ne, Esq., Inland Revenue, Somer-
set House, London.
Rev. W. B. Mackenzie, A.M., Minister of
St. James's, HoUoway.
0
LIST OP SUBSCRIBERS.
William G. Mantle, Esq., London.
Thomas McMicking, Esq., Edinburgh.
George Moore, Esq., London, 3 copies.
William B. Morgan, Esq., London, 3
copies.
Henry Morgan, Esq., Norwich, 3 copies.
The Hon. Capt. Edward Plunkett, R.N.,
London.
Richard Porter, Esq., London, 10 copies.
Jacob Post, Esq., Islington, 2 copies.
Richard Potter, Esq., A.M., London.
F. Rattery, Esq., London.
David Rankine, Esq., Edinburgh.
W. J. Macquom Rankine, Esq., C.E.,
Edinburgh.
John Robert Reay, Esq., London, 2
copies.
Richard Rigg, Esq., London, 4 copies.
Sir Edward Ryan, Whitehall, London, 2
copies.
Benjamin Scott, Esq., Guildhall, London,
2 copies.
J. Pocklington Senhouse, Esq., Nether-
hall, Cumberland.
Henry W. Shackell, Esq., Stoke New-
ington.
Francis B. Shackell, Esq., Stoke New-
ington.
William Smee, Esq., Woodberry Down
Stoke Newington.
Richard Smith, Esq., Highbury Place,
London.
George Stockdale, Esq., London.
Rev. A. W. Tayler, A.M., Rector of Stoke
Newington, 2 copies.
John Thompson, Esq., London, 2 copies.
George TurnbuU, Esq., C. E., London,
2 copies.
Richard Twentyman, Esq., London, 3
copies.
Joseph Underwood, Esq., London, 3 copies.
Thomas Vaughan, Esq., Stoke Newington,
3 copies.
Henry Waite, Esq., London, 2 copies.
Charles Warner, Esq., London.
Thomas Willis, Esq., London, 6 copies.
An obliging Antiquaiy of Hexham has furnished the following
directions for a three days' pedestrian tour along the Wall : —
Your route should be from Corbridge, a station of the Newcastle
and Carlisle Railway, to Walwick Chesters (Cilurnum), getting upon
the line of Wall at Hal ton Chesters (Hunnum).
The road from Corbridge to Stagshawbank Bar ia a portion of the
Watling Street, or ancient military road.
On the second day you might get on to Haltwhistle, though
Housesteads (Borcovicus), and Chesterholme (Vindolana) would
demand the principal part of it.
The third day you have less ground to go over ; after inspecting
the interesting ruins at Burdoswald (Amboglanna) you might rest
for the night at the Shaw's Hotel, Gilsland.
ERRATUM,
Page 59, line 3, for " Huddlestone " read " Hudson."
BINDING SECT. JUN 1
1964
DA Abbatt, Richard
1^6 A history of the Picts
A3 or Romano-British Wall
1S49
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